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TYPES OF NATIVES. 

Malay. Biadjaw. 













































THE 


FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


BY 

REV. AMBROSE COLEMAN, O.P. 


Permissu Superiorum . 


BOSTON: 

MARLIER, CALLANAN & CO. 
1899 . 

% 









Copyright, 1899, 

By Marlier, Callanan & Co. 

TWO CO^ |( s* *ffcC€tV60» 



first copy, 






C. J. Feterb & Son, Typographers, 
Boston. 



) 


PREFACE. 


The following pages originally appeared as 
\ magazine articles. In both England and America 
the papers were favorably received; and as the 
public has not heard the last of the Friars in the 
Philippines, it seemed worth while to reproduce 
them in the more permanent form of a small vol¬ 
ume, making such corrections and additions as 
might be deemed advisable. Whatever may be 
the shortcomings of the book, there is a real and 
pressing need for the information it contains, and 
this need must remain the excuse for its imper¬ 
fections. A fair consideration of the facts it pre¬ 
sents is confidently expected from a people whose 
love of justice is almost proverbial: Truth should 
have nothing to fear from Americans. 

May 5 , 1899 . 


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CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Work of the Religious Orders in the 

Philippines. 7 

II. The Charges made against Them consid¬ 
ered . 37 

III. The Rebellion Largely the Work of a 

Secret Organization. 60 

IV. The Rebels and Their Grievances .... 86 

V. The Sectarian Missionary Movement ... 99 

Postscript.116 


APPENDIX. 


I. A Short Account of Missions in China, 

CONDUCTED BY THE DOMINICAN FRIARS OF 

the Philippines.122 

II. Extracts relating to the Friars, from 
the Official Correspondence of Gen¬ 
erals Weyler and Moriones.124 

III. The Work of Freemasonry in South and 

Central America.129 

IV. Interview with Augustinian Friars .... 138 

V. Letter from a Friar in the Power of 

the Rebels, to a Friend in Manila . . . 145 

VI. The Rev. Mr. Hykes on Burial Fees, and 

the Paco Cemetery outside Manila . . . 149 

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THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


CHAPTER I. 

THE WORK OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS EST THE 
PHILIPPINES. 

A recent traveller designates the Philippines 
as the birthplace of typhoons, the home of earth¬ 
quakes, —■ epithets undoubtedly strong yet well 
deserved; and typhoons at certain seasons of the 
year, with earthquakes at uncertain periods, when 
taken together with the torrid heat, trying at all 
seasons, and the malaria fruitful of fevers, make 
these islands of the Eastern seas, which otherwise 
would be a veritable Paradise upon earth, an unde¬ 
sirable place of abode to the average European, 
unless, indeed, he is attracted thither by the greed 
of gain or by the nobler desire of missionary en¬ 
terprise. 

For Nature, bountiful there almost to prodigal¬ 
ity, revelling in all the luxuriance of tropical 
7 



8 


THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


vegetation, has always at hand, as a set-off to her 
gifts, terrible manifestations of her power. The 
seventeenth-century navigator, William Dampier, 
in his own quaint and amusing way, describes how 
the natives and the Spanish colonists of Manila 
strove to guard against the double danger of earth¬ 
quakes and typhoons, and how they both failed 
ignominiously. The Spaniards built strong stone 
houses, but the earthquake made light of them, 
and shook them so violently that the terrified 
inmates would rush out of doors to save their lives; 
while the natives from their frail bamboo dwell¬ 
ings, which were perched on high poles, placidly 
contemplated their discomfiture. All that the 
earthquake meant to them was a gentle swaying 
from side to side. But the Spaniards had their 
turn when the fierce typhoon blew, against which 
their thick walls were proof. Then, from the 
security of their houses, could they view, with a 
certain grim satisfaction, the huts of the natives 
swaying every minute more violently in the wind, 
till, one by one, they toppled over — each an inde¬ 
scribable heap of poles, mats, household utensils, 
and human beings. 

By way of general description it may be said 
that the Philippine Archipelago consists of be¬ 
tween one and two thousand islands ; two of which, 
Luzon and Mindanao, are much larger than Ire¬ 
land, while the rest vary in size down to mere 
islets, rocks, and reefs. Altogether the islands 


















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































. 

1 

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WORK OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 


9 


stretch from north to south a distance as great 
as from the north of England to the south of 
Italy. The soil is extremely rich, and easily cul¬ 
tivated; vast forests abound, containing valuable 
timber; and the mineral resources, up to the pres¬ 
ent undeveloped, are apt to prove a sure source - of 
income under modern methods of working. 

But what concerns us most in this inquiry is 
the character of the inhabitants. The population, 
which is variously estimated at from eight to ten 
millions, is made up of more than eighty dis¬ 
tinct tribes, which nearly all belong to the Malay 
race. There are still to be found in some of the 
islands, and principally in the mountainous dis¬ 
tricts, the remnants of the aboriginal inhabitants, 
usually called Negritos. These are of a distinc¬ 
tively inferior type, are rapidly diminishing in 
numbers, and seem to many observers incapable of 
civilization. Our only concern therefore is with the 
Malays, who form the vast bulk of the population, 
and have in the course of time been nearly all 
converted to Christianity. Nearly seven million 
Christians are counted among them; while the 
unconverted pagans, together with the Moros, or 
Malay Mohammedans, of Mindanao and the Sulu 
islands, are not a million in number. 

Christianity has effected a wonderful transfor¬ 
mation in the character of the people, softening 
and refining it, as we may judge by the contrast 
presented by their cruel and bloodthirsty neighbors 


10 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

in Mindanao and the Sulu group, who, nevertheless, 
belong to the same race, and whose characteristics 
they must originally have shared. Travellers have 
not sufficiently dwelt on this important point. 
They note that the civilized native is self-vespect- 
ing and self-constrained to a remarkable degree, 
patient under misfortune, and forbearing under 
provocation. He is a kind father and a dutiful 
son. His relatives are never left in want, but are 
welcome to share the best his house affords, to the 
end of their days. Unfortunately for himself, he 
is a happy-go-lucky fellow, delighting in cock- 
fighting and games of chance, and naturally indo¬ 
lent, his wants being so few and simple. He is a 
born musician, genial, sociable, loving to dance, 
sing, and make merry among his companions. His 
wife is allowed a degree of liberty hardly equalled 
in any other Eastern country, a liberty she rarely 
abuses. She is the financier of the family, and the 
husband consults her when making a bargain. She 
does her share of the work ; but it is not more than 
her just share, and she is not overburdened with 
labor. Hospitality is cheerful and open-handed, 
and the traveller is welcomed to the hut of the 
native with cordiality. The houses of the natives 
are kept neat, and are models of cleanliness, and 
the natives also keep themselves extremely clean. 
They are practical and fervent Catholics. At the 
vesper Angelus bell “there is always a pretty scene. 
An instant hush comes over the busy village. 


WORK OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 11 


In each house father, mother, and children fall on 
their knees before the image or picture of some 
saint, and repeat their prayers. The devotions 
over, each child kisses the hand of his father and 
his mother, at the same time wishing them good 
evening. He then makes an obeisance to each of 
his brothers and sisters, as well as to each guest 
who happens to be present, repeating his salutation 
with each funny bow. Host and hostess also greet 
one in the same way; and in remote places, where 
white men are a rarity, the little tots often kneel 
to kiss one’s hand.” (“The Philippine Islands 
and their People,” by Dean C. Worcester.) 

In sharp contrast to the happy, contented, and 
peaceful character of the Christian native, is his 
southern neighbor of the same blood, the fanatical 
Moro. Mohammedanism has accentuated rather 
than softened the underlying fierceness of the Ma¬ 
lay ; as it gives him a religious sanction to cruelty, 
treachery, murder, pillage, and piracy when directed 
against the hated Christian. Inhuman and cold¬ 
blooded cruelty is the great characteristic of the 
Moro, who will calmly cut down a slave merely to 
try the edge of a new weapon. For two centuries 
and a half the Moros organized piratical expeditions 
against the northern islands. The coming of the 
dreaded fleet of war-praus was looked forward to 
as an annual event; and while the southwest 
monsoon was blowing, vigilant sentinels were on 
the lookout night and day from the watch-towers 


12 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

with which every village was provided. The intro¬ 
duction of modern artillery and quick-firing guns 
at last turned the scales in favor of the Spaniards, 
and the piratical expeditions are now a thing of the 
past. All Christians, however, living near the 
Moros must still carry their lives in their hands, 
owing to the juramentados. A juramentado is a 
man who takes an oath to die killing Christians. 
The more Christians he kills, the higher place of 
course he is to get in heaven, especially if he 
loses his own life in the holy work. He dresses 
in white, shaves his eyebrows, conceals a weapon 
under his clothing, and then seizing a favorable 
opportunity, runs amuck, killing without mercy 
men, women, and children. Of course he gets 
killed himself in the end, but sometimes not until 
he has made himself accountable for a great num¬ 
ber of deaths. 

Though Magellan discovered the Archipelago 
in 1521, no serious attempt to take possession of 
it was made till 1565, when an expedition of 
four hundred soldiers and sailors was fitted out by 
Philip II., and placed under the leadership of 
Miguel Lopez de Legaspi. As Philip was in¬ 
spired by religious zeal, and his principal and per¬ 
haps only object was to spread the light of the 
Gospel, six Augustinian friars accompanied the 
expedition. We may say with truth that it was 
these missionaries, and the others who followed in 
rapid succession, who conquered the Archipelago 


WORK OF TFLE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 13 


for Spain. There was no conquest in the strict 
sense of the term. The Spaniards in most places 
simply showed themselves to the natives; and the 
religious, who accompanied them, persuaded the 
untutored savages to submit to the King of Spain, 
through whom they would obtain the two-fold 
blessing of civilization and Christianity. The re¬ 
tention of these rich and fertile islands, so great 
a source of revenue to the mother-country, was on 
the whole a very easy task. The religious Orders 
planted themselves firmly in the colony, and 
spread themselves everywhere, winning the na¬ 
tives to Christ, keeping them also in loyal obedi¬ 
ence to that great European power by whose means 
the missionaries had been sent to them. They 
were thus the real bulwarks of Spanish power 
there, which was kept up rather by gentle persua¬ 
sion than by force of arms. Mr. Mac Macking, 
a Scotch Protestant who spent some years there, 
says: “ The warriors who gained them over to Spain 
were not their steel-clad chivalry, but the soldiers 
of the Cross, — the priests who astonished and 
kindled them by their enthusiasm in the cause of 
Christ.” Up to a few years ago profound peace 
reigned; and a garrison of 4,200 soldiers, 3,500 
gendarmerie, and 2,000 sailors and marines, was 
considered sufficient to overawe a population of 
eight millions, besides keeping in check the fanati¬ 
cal and bloodthirsty Moro pirates. 

The Augustinians were the pioneers in religious 


14 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


enterprise, coming, as we said already, with Legaspi, 
in 1565, four years before the Philippines were 
formally annexed to Sp4in. They were followed, 
in 1577, by the Franciscans ; and the labors of both 
Orders were so successful that Manila was erected 
into an espiscopal see in 1579. Two years later 
Salazar, a Dominican friar laboring in Mexico, was 
appointed bishop; and he brought the Domini¬ 
cans with him to Manila. About the same time, 
also, the Jesuits and the Recollects, or discalced 
Augustinians, entered the country. All the Orders 
went about their work with truly religious zeal; 
and their success was so great that at the end 
of the century Mendoza could say: “ According 
to the common opinion, at this day there are con¬ 
verted and baptized more than four hundred thou¬ 
sand souls.” It was a success to be proud of 
among a people who, when the missionaries came, 
had no religious worship, nor temple, nor priest, 
nor form of worship. They had but a hazy notion 
of a Deity, their sole religious ideas consisting of 
some imperfect notions of a hell and a heaven. 
Persecution only gave zest to the work, both in the 
Philippines and in the Ladrones, of which we may 
speak together in this connection, as they have a 
common history. Towards the close of the six¬ 
teenth century, as we learn from Argensola, more 
than six thousand Christians had already been 
martyred in the single province of Ternate, “that 
so,” he adds, “ the foundation of our faith may be 


WORK OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 15 


iii all parts cemented with the blood of the faith¬ 
ful. They dismembered the bodies, and burned 
the legs and arms in sight of the still living trunks. 
They impaled the women, and tore out their 
bowels; children were torn piecemeal before 
their mothers’ eyes, and infants were rent from 
their wombs.” (“ Discovery and Conquest of the 
Molucca and Philippine islands,” by B. L. de 
Argensola.) Opposition, and persecution too, came 
from the Mohammedan element in the population, 
which was already formidable when the Spaniards 
arrived on the scene, Mohammedanism having been 
introduced into the islands, especially the more 
southerly group, as far back as the thirteenth cen¬ 
tury. Accordingly the Mohammedans waged a long 
and bitter warfare both against missionaries, and the 
new Christians, numbers of whom were called on 
to seal their faith with their blood. Still, in spite 
of persecution, the Church prospered in those early 
days. Dampier, the English navigator, who visited 
the Philippines towards the close of the seven¬ 
teenth century, testifies to the wonderful progress 
made even then in civilization. “In every village,” 
lie says, “ is a stone church, as well as a parsonage- 
house for the rector, who is always one of the 
monks. These last, who are all Europeans, are 
very much respected by the Indians, while the 
secular clergy, who commonly are Creoles, are 
held in contempt. Hence the Government shows 
great deference to the rectors ; for, generally speak- 


16 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


ing, the Indians always consult them on enter¬ 
ing on any enterprise, or even as to paying taxes.” 
Thus, one century had changed the people from 
savagery to civilization. In Manila, Dampier 
found the natives pursuing all the avocations of 
civilized life — they were merchants, skilled arti¬ 
sans in various trades, clerks, etc. 

There were three large colleges, — two under the 
care of the Dominicans, and one carried on by 
the Augustiniaris. There was also a Poor Clare 
convent, containing forty nuns, together with a 
hospital and an orphanage. The religious estab¬ 
lishments occupied one-third of the city as it then 
stood. This may seem out of proportion to the 
religious needs of the city; but we must remember 
that in Manila, then as now, priests of the vari¬ 
ous Orders were in training for the numerous mis¬ 
sions of the Archipelago, Tonkin, and China (see 
Appendix I.), and, at the period of which we are 
speaking, of Japan as well. 

Passing on to the present century, the Rev. 
David Abeel, a Protestant missionary, says of the 
Philippines: “ The Church of Rome has here 

proselytized to itself the entire population. The 
influence of the priests is unbounded.” In the 
year 1858 Mr. Crawford, who was formerly gov¬ 
ernor of Singapore, made the following declaration 
at a public missionary meeting: u In the Philip¬ 
pine Islands the Spaniards have converted several 
fhillions of people to the Roman Catholic faith, 


WORK OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 17 


and an immense improvement in their social con¬ 
dition has been the consequence.” Mr. MacMack- 
ing confesses that the suppression of the Jesuits, 
who were banished from the Philippines in 1768, 
“ was attended with the worst effects to the trade 
and agriculture of the islands.” He adds that 
“religious processions are as frequently passing 
through the streets as they are in the Roman 
Catholic countries of Europe.” He testifies that 
“ the Church has long proved to be, on the whole, 
by much the most cheap and efficacious instru¬ 
ment of good government and order — even the 
common people learn reading by its aid, so much 
at least as to enable them to read their prayer- 
books and other religious manuals. There are very 
few Indians who are unable to read, and I have 
always observed that the Manila men serving on 
board ships and forming their crew have been 
much oftener able to subscribe their names to the 
ship’s articles than the British seamen on board 
the same vessels could do.” Prosessor Ferdinand 
Blumentritt, a German Protestant, who is univer¬ 
sally acknowledged to be the most competent 
authority on all that regards the Philippines, 
spoke most highly of the missionary and scientific 
work of the Religious Orders there, at a meeting 
of the Vienna Geographical Society in 1896. The 
weight of testimony from such a source all must 
acknowledge ; it is indeed a pleasure to present 
the German scientist’s remarks to the considera¬ 
tion of fair-minded readers. 


18 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


“ I wish to add some remarks,” said Blumentritt, 
“ about the Philippines, as here the Catholic mis¬ 
sionaries are usually active not only in the spread 
of Christianity and its civilization, but also in the 
geographical and ethnographical exploration of the 
archipelago. Unfortunately the reports of the mis¬ 
sions of the various Orders are not equally acces¬ 
sible, e.g., we have very little account of the 
Augustinian missions, which are located principally 
in the lands of the Igorrotes (Northwest Luzon) 
and on the Island of Negros, among the Budkid- 
non savages. The only important publication upon 
Augustinian missions which I have been able to see 
is the Memoria acerea de las Missiones de los P. P. 
Augustinos Calzados, Madrid, 1892. According to 
this the Calced Augustinians in 1892 had in the 
province of Abra, among the Tinguians, who inhabit 
it, eight missions with 25,100 souls; in that of Lep- 
anto, two missions with 2,200 souls (Igorrotes); in 
that of Bengnet, also two missions, with 849 souls 
(Igorrotes) — total, 28,149 souls, as against 5,802 
in 1829. Between 18T4 and 1885 the number of 
savages and heathens converted to Christianity 
was 1,356; from 1885 to 1888 there were 549. In 
1892 the erection of 15 new missions was projected 
in the provinces of Tiagan, Bontok, Amburayan, 
and Quiangan. 

“ The Discalced Augustinians, called in the 
Philippines ‘ Recoletos,’ have missions in the 
Island of Palawan (or Paragua) and in the group 


WORK OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 19 


of the Calainianes. Of these missioners, Father 
Cipriano Navarro has especially distinguished him¬ 
self by his ethnographical researches; and we owe 
to him exhaustive reports concerning the Tini- 
tians, Togbanuas, Tandolans, and Bulalacaunos, 
among whom Christianity is making steady prog¬ 
ress. 

“The Franciscans have missions in the penin¬ 
sula of Camarines, in Luzon, and in every large 
island on the Pacific coast. Ethnography and 
philology are much indebted to their labors. I 
need only refer to the works published by myself 
in the proceedings of our Society, the vocabulary 
of the Negrito dialect of Baler by Father Fernan¬ 
dez, and the accounts of the Bikols, Dumagats, and 
Atas, by Father Castano. 

“We possess fuller accounts of the Dominicans, 
who are occupied in converting to Christianity 
the Alimis, Apayaos, Aripas, Buayas, Bumanguis, 
Bungians, Calauas, Calingas, Catalangans, Dada- 
yags, Gaddans, Ibibalons, Ibilaos, and Ilongotes, 
Ipituys, Isinays, Mayoyaos, Guiangans, and other 
Ifuagao races. In the missionary review, Correo 
Sino-Anamito , we find numerous descriptions of 
popular manners and customs. Some of these, 
particularly those written by Fathers Yillaverde, 
Buenaventura, Campa, Malumbres, Ruis, and Fer- 
rando, I have already in part made more generally 
known in these proceedings. The review also 
publishes occasional sketches, and especially such 


20 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

as throw light on the river-system of North 
Luzon, the valley of the Rio Grande de Cagayan. 
The results of their strictly missionary labors are 
very fruitful. 

“ But however successful the evangelical and 
scientific activity of the missionaries of the above 
Orders, they are far surpassed by what the Jesu¬ 
its have done in the island of Mindanaoin, in half 
a generation, for the spread of Christianity and civ¬ 
ilization, as well as for the geographical explora¬ 
tion of the second largest island of the Archipelago. 
When they arrived they found a Christian popula¬ 
tion only on the east and north coasts, and in a 
few isolated spots on the other coast regions, 
such as Zamboanga, Pollok, Cottabatto Davao, 
and Pundaguitan; and these were mostly Bis- 
ayos, with a few Bukidnons, Mandayas, Manabos, 
and Subanos. In the interior the Spanish Chris¬ 
tian settlements along the Macajalas Bay reached 
only as far as the upper course of the Rio Tago- 
loan; on the Agusan, from the lake region at 
Linao to its mouth near Butuan, only two vil¬ 
lages, Bunauan and Talacogon. All that was 
then known of the interior of Mindanao was the 
Lanao Lake, the lower course of the Pulangin or 
Rio Grande from its mouth to Lahaba}% and the 
lake region belonging to the river of Ligauasan or 
Buluan. Of the tribes over and above the Bis- 
ayas (Christians) and Moros (Mohammedans), 
only the Mandayas, Manobos, Subanos, and Bud- 


NEGRITOS, THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE PHILIPPINES. 

From a Photograph. 

























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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WORK OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 21 


kidnon (or 4 Monteses ’ of the Spaniards) were 
known by little more than name, but scarcely 
mentioned in contemporary literature. Of the 
rest, except the Tirurayes, scarce the name was 
known. Of the Atas, Tagabawas, Dulangans, 
Tagabelis, etc., even the names were unknown. 

44 How changed since then! The network of 
rivers in the great island is now very well known ; 
whilst the legendary lake in the centre of the 
island, whence the Rio Grande was said to flow, 
and from which the whole island was supposed to 
derive its name, has now happily disappeared from 
our maps. In numerous sketches and maps the 
missionaries have recorded the results of their geo¬ 
graphical explorations and discoveries. The man¬ 
ners and customs of the heathen tribes have been 
fully described by the Jesuits. It has, therefore, 
always been for me the greatest pleasure to com¬ 
municate the results of the researches of these 
Philippine missionaries to wider scientific circles. 

44 The Jesuits can also point to very great results 
in their evangelical labors. Most of the heathen 
tribes are now entirely or in part converted to 
Christianity, or have at least settled round their 
missions. Even a tribe so obstinately refractory 
to civilization, owing to their unsettled and wan¬ 
dering life, as the Mamanuas (who belong to the 
Negritos) can already point to Christian villages. 
But the greatest success of the Jesuits has been in 
bringing a considerable number of the Moros on 


22 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


the Gulf of Davao to embrace Christianity. When 
it is remembered how rare a thing it is to induce 
a Mohammedan to be baptized, it must be especially 
noted that here not a few isolated Moros living 
among Christians have abjured Islam, but that the 
Moros converted to Christianity are so numerous 
that, as they can no longer live among their former 
co-religionists, they have been allowed to build 
their separate villages in the region of the Rio 
Davao. In 1895 the status of the Jesuit mis¬ 
sions was as follows: 218,065 souls, 17,608 bap¬ 
tisms of children of Christian parents, 2,978 
marriages, 7,215 funerals, 8,288 baptisms of con¬ 
verted heathen. 

“In the article ‘Die Katholischen Missionen,’ 
Oscar Hecht gives the number of Christians in the 
Philippines as 3,500,000. This is incorrect. The 
flocks of the different Orders were as follows: — 


Calced Augustinians 

(1892) . . 

. 2,082,131 

Discalced Augustinians 

(1892) . . 

. 1,175,156 

Franciscans 

(1892) . . 

. 1,010,753 

Dominicans 

(1892) . . 

699,851 

Jesuits 

(1895) . . 

213,065 

Secular Clergy 

(1892) . . 

967,294 


Total, 

6,148,250 


It is difficult to estimate the number of heathens 
and Mohammedans; they cannot be under 500,- 
000, nor can they exceed a million.” 

Any account of the work of the Religious Orders 
in the islands would be certainly incomplete if 






WORK OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 23 


particular mention of their efforts in behalf of 
education were omitted. These efforts were sys¬ 
tematically carried out until interrupted by the 
recent rebellion. The briefest and most summary 
mention of what each of the Orders has done, 
however, is all that may be attempted within the 
necessary narrow limits of this volumes. 

1. The Dominicans are in charge of the Uni¬ 
versity of Manila, which was founded and confided 
to their care about two centuries ago. It has been 
generally attended by between two and three thou¬ 
sand natives, who thus receive the benefits of a 
professional and liberal education. A correspon¬ 
dent of the Daily Telegraph (London) tells his 
English readers that as “ the education of the peo¬ 
ple has been exclusively in their (the religious’) 
hands, it is enough to say that practically it does 
not exist.” The following account of the studies 
pursued in the University, taken from the official 
report of the year 1893-1894, is a sufficient 
answer to this unworthy remark. 

COURSE OF STUDIES. 

The Faculty of Theology and Canon Law has the follow¬ 
ing courses of lectures : — 

1. A course of Ontology, Cosmology, and Natural Re¬ 

ligion. 

2. The Controversial Course. 

3. Dogmatic Theology. 

4. Moral Theology and Sacred Eloquence. 

5. Sacred Scripture. 


24 TIIE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES . 


6. Canon Law. 

7. Ecclesiastical Procedure and Discipline, especially as 

used in Churches in the East. 

8. Ecclesiastical History. 

The eight lecturers in this faculty were Dominicans. 
There were thirty students. 

FACULTY OF JURISPRUDENCE. 

1. Metaphysics. 

2. Spanish Literature. 

3. Constitutional History of Spain and Natural Law. 

4. Canon Law. 

5. Political Economy. 

6. Ecclesiastical Discipline. 

There were six Dominican and nine other professors 
teaching in this faculty. The students numbered 405. 

FACULTY OF LAW. 

In this faculty one Dominican and eleven other profes¬ 
sors lectured. There were 60 students. 

FACULTY OF MEDICINE. 

1. Physics. 

2. Chemistry. 

3. Mineralogy and Botany. 

Three Dominican and thirteen other professors lectured 
in this faculty. There were 277 students. 

FACULTY OF PHARMACY. 

There were 89 students. In the schools of practical 
pharmacy there were 216 students. Three Dominicans, who 
lectured on Chemistry, Zoology, Mineralogy, and Botany, 
and seven other professors taught in this faculty. 


WORK OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 25 


This is the higher education which has been 
given to the natives for more than two centuries. 
Is it not something to admire ? Can England point 
back to anything equal to it in the history of her 
own colonies? Did England in the last century 
do anything for the material or spiritual advance¬ 
ment of the North American Indians? Did the 
United States do anything for them till within 
recent years? Both governments folded their 
arms while the Indians were being driven before 
the face of the white settlers; and during the two 
centuries that the policy of extinction was being 
carried out on the North American continent the 
Spanish missionaries were giving the natives of 
the Philippines all the benefits of higher education. 
The contrast is instructive, and places Spain on a 
far higher plane as a colonizer than her quondam 
rival. 

Besides imparting higher education in the Uni¬ 
versity, the Dominicans gave secondary education 
in two colleges in Manila, to some hundreds of 
scholars, one principally devoted to a classical 
education, and the other suited to those intending 
to engage in a mercantile career. Besides these 
they had colleges in the towns of Cebu, Jaro, 
Nueva, Caceres, Dagupan, and Vigan. 

2. The Jesuits. “The labors of the Jesuits,” 
says the Messenger of the Sacred Heart (New York), 
are chiefly confined to the Island of Mindanao. 
They direct, however, a flourishing college at 


26 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


Manila, and are in charge of an observatory, 
which, for the perfection of an outfit and the 
importance of its observations, ranks foremost 
among institutions of its kind. This famous 
observatory was founded by the Spanish Jesuits 
in 1865, and was at first connected'with their 
college at Manila. It was directed until 1896 
by the well-known astronomer and meteorologist, 
Father Frederick Faura. By its successful pre¬ 
diction of typhoons, so common and destructive 
in the Philippines, the observatory soon won for 
itself an enviable reputation throughout the archi¬ 
pelago. Up to the year 1882, no fewer than 
fourteen of these dangerous tornadoes had been 
predicted. In consideration of such valuable ser¬ 
vices, the observatory was, in April, 1884, raised 
to the rank of a Government institution, under the 
title of “ Meteorological Observatory of Manila,” 
and was transferred to its present commodious 
quarters outside the city, with which it has tele¬ 
graphic and telephonic connections. 

“The observatory comprises four departments, 
— the meteorological, seismological, magnetic, and 
astronomical. Each department has its special 
director, and a general director is at the head of 
the whole establishment. The meteorological 
section, provided with the very best instruments, 
is the most important of the four, on account of 
its practical usefulness to shipping interests. It 
is in regular communication with more than a 


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WORK OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 27 


hundred observatories in all parts of the world. 
Twice every day it receives by cable the meteo¬ 
rological observations made at the stations of 
Nagasaki, Tokio, Kabe (Japan), Shanghai, Amoy, 
Hong Kong (China), Haiphong (Tonkin), the 
Island of Formosa, and elsewhere along the coast. 
Hence the forecasting of typhoons and cyclones is 
greatly facilitated, and enjoys the confidence of all 
those that sail the Chinese seas. Many of the 
instruments used at the observatory are due to 
the inventive genius of Father Faura, who was 
also the first to announce typhoons with certainty, 
and to discover the laws Avhich regulate their for¬ 
mation and path. He is the inventor of a peculiar 
kind of barometer, which enables any sailor, even 
if he knows nothing whatever about meteorology, 
to foresee the approach of storms, and to guard 
against them. 

“Next in importance to the meteorological de¬ 
partment is the seismological or earthquake section 
of the observatory, which is rendering great services 
to a region so much exposed to earthquakes as the 
Philippines are. This section is likewise equipped 
with a remarkably fine apparatus, many of the 
instruments having been built or improved by 
Father Faura. For many years Father Miguel 
Saderra Maso has been in charge of this section, 
which he has made famous by his learned work, 
“Seismology in the Philippines,” published in 
1895. Prather Cirera’s work, “ Terrestrial Magnet- 


28 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


ism in the Philippines,” is also well known in the 
learned world. 

“ The splendid achievements of the Manila ob¬ 
servatory found their due meed of appreciation and 
praise in the congress of scientists at the World’s 
Fair, where the institution was represented by 
Fathers Algerie and Faura, who came at that 
time to this country, and spent some months at 
Georgetown College. 

“ Father Faura died in January, 1897. His death 
was that of a martyr of charity. During his sick¬ 
ness, Ryzal (or Ryall), one of the insurgent 
leaders, had been captured, and condemned to be 
shot within twenty-four hours. The prisoner was 
placed in the Chapel of the Passion, and was 
offered the spiritual ministration of the Jesuit 
Fathers. But he peremptorily refused to see a 
priest on the plea that he was a Protestant. Sev¬ 
eral of the fathers had already been repelled, when 
Father Faura, who had formerly been Ryzal’s pro¬ 
fessor at Manila, rising from his bed of sickness, 
made a last effort to convert the unfortunate man. 
Though at first repelled like the rest, he was at 
last admitted by Ryzal; and after arguing and 
pleading with him for a long timd, he had the 
happiness of bringing him to repentance, and 
restoring him to the Catholic Church. The con¬ 
demned man made a sincere confession, heard 
Mass, received Holy Communion, begged pardon 
for his errors, and exhorted others to renounce all 


WORK OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 29 


connection with Freemasonry. His conversion 
was entire, and his death that of a fervent Chris¬ 
tian. The effort to bring about this conversion, 
however, cost Father Faura his own life. Worn 
out and prostrated by the interview, he was led 
back to his bed to die. The conversion of his 
former pupil was the last apostolic act of Father 
Faura, and the crowning of a life of great useful¬ 
ness in the service of religion and of science.” 

The sons of St. Ignatius also direet the Muni¬ 
cipal Academy of which English correspondents 
have spoken in terms of high praise. 

3. At Yigan also is the Augustinian Seminary 
and College, under the direction of the fathers, 
seven of whom are teachers. Here 209 students 
were taught the following branches (as set down in 
the report) : viz., Dogmatic Theology, Moral The¬ 
ology, Metaphysics, Logic, Ethics, Physics, Chem¬ 
istry, Geography, Poetry, Rhetoric, Trigonometry, 
Geometry, Algebra, Arithmetic, Analysis, and 
translation of Latin, Greek, French, Church His¬ 
tory, Natural History, Universal History, History 
of Spain, History of the Philippines, Christian 
Doctrine. 

The Augustinians also conducted a splendid or¬ 
phanage and industrial school at Tambohn, about 
a league from Manila. In this establishment 145 
boys were taught the following trades (Report for 
1897-1898): Compositors, 13; press-work, 12; 
bookbinders, 30; gilders, 3; candle-makers, 43; 


30 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

together with forty-four others too young to be 
trained. 

4. Neither was the education of the female sex 
neglected. Among other establishments of a like 
nature, there was an orphan asylum for girls at 
Mandaloya on the Tasig, conducted by Augus- 
tinian nuns, twenty-two in number. Last year 
it contained 122 pupils, who were receiving in¬ 
struction in music, the piano, painting, drawing, 
embroidery, artificial flower-making, dressmaking, 
hair-dressing, lacemaking, laundry work, and 
sewing. 

5. The Franciscans had colleges as well, and be¬ 
sides doing their share in the work of education, 
devoted their time and services to the hospitals of 
the Archipelago, the principal of which are, the 
Royal Hospital of St. Lazarus at Manila, the In¬ 
firmary of St. Ann in the province of Saguna, and 
that of Vasa in the province of Camarines. 

Scattered through the various islands are the 
posts or residences, where the fathers of the vari¬ 
ous Orders devote themselves to the “ nuevos 
Christianos,” as they are called, or latter-day con¬ 
verts from Paganism. This zealous work of con¬ 
version has never ceased from the time of the 
conquest, and the Christian population has been 
steadily on the increase till our own times. The 
recent traveller, 1 whom we quoted at the beginning, 

1 “ The Wanderings of a Globe-Trotter in the Far East.” By 
the Hon. Lewis Wingfield. 1889. 


WORK OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 31 


came in contact a good deal with the Dominicans 
during his stay in the Philippines, visiting several 
of their outlying stations, and receiving everywhere 
the greatest kindness and hospitality from them. 
He says: “ Everywhere you enter the monastery 
as though it was your own, eat and drink unstint¬ 
edly, and sleep, and depart with thanks and a cor¬ 
dial God-speed from the fathers, and naught to pay 
for the entertainment.” Alas ! the good fathers 
did not know the viper they were nursing. Pity 
they could not recognize in the smiling English¬ 
man who so readily accepted their hospitality, and 
“ paid naught for the entertainment,” the man who 
would speak of them as dirty monks, who would 
consider it worthy of sneering record that they did 
not shave when on board ship, and who, though 
not able to discover any evil himself, would repeat 
gross calumnies about them, got from hearsay. 
What he saw with his own eyes belies his wicked 
innuendos. He says: “It was plain that they 
cared naught for the fretting of the world. In 
many a dismal place, even in the remotest spots, I 
found the clusters of monastic exiles perfectly 
happy — the outer world dead, or too far away — 
craving for no other fate. They are enchanted to 
welcome and give you of their best; will even, if 
struggling overland, lend a vehicle or a riding- 
horse to convey you to the next convent on the 
way. Cheery, kindly, simple people, practical ser¬ 
mons on 4 Content.’ The monks of Ramblon, a 


32 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


dozen or so all told, were delighted to show us all 
that was to be seen. A homely little church was 
duly exhibited, built of a local wood, which cuts 
into planks of extreme width, adorned with a grain 
which is brought out with wax and oil. The col¬ 
umns were of solid ebony, the floor of four marbles, 
white, gray, black, and brown. All these were the 
products of this little island.” A fair-minded man 
would have duly attributed their joy of mind and 
kindness to strangers to religious feeling, — to the 
love of God, for whose sake these Spanish mission¬ 
aries had given up father and mother, friends and 
worldly prospects, to spend their lives, year in and 
year out, without hope of earthly reward, in these 
spots, dismal enough to the ordinary tourist, but to 
them bright and cheery, as they were the posts 
alloted to them by Divine Providence for the exten¬ 
sion of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. 

“ The provincial stations,” he says in another 
place, “are in reality governed by the priests.” 
How could it be otherwise ? With a government 
notoriously weak and inefficient, with lay officials 
notoriously corrupt, unwilling to exile themselves 
in these parts remote from civilization, unwilling 
to condescend to learn the many various dialects 
in use in the Archipelago, no wonder that the mis¬ 
sionary living in the midst of the people to whom 
he had devoted his life, and who looked up to him 
as a father, exercised a sort of parental authority 
over them. This was done both in the interest of 


WORK OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 38 


the civil government and of the natives themselves. 
The governors utilized the authority of the mis¬ 
sionaries as long as it suited their purpose ; when, 
on the other hand, the missionaries had to oppose 
extortion and unjust treatment, the officials started 
the cry that the missionaries were ruling the Archi¬ 
pelago. About those gentlemen Thomas Comin 
wrote in 1810: 

“ In order to be a chief of a province in these islands 
no training, or knowledge, or special service is necessary. 
It is quite a common thing to see a barber, a Governor’s 
lackey, a sailor, or a deserter suddenly transformed into an 
Alcalde, Administrator, and Captain of the Forces of a 
populous province, with no counsellor but his rude under¬ 
standing, and no guide but his passions.” 

Here are some edifying facts concerning Spanish 
officials in the Philippines. In five years Gover¬ 
nor-General Manuel de Arandia amassed a quarter 
of a million dollars; a successor of Arandia, within 
the last few years, is reported to have made $700,- 
000 in a single year; while another is commonly 
said to have placed millions to his credit dur¬ 
ing a short term of office. Men talk openly in 
Manila of bribing judges to put cases off and off. 
Little wonder, then, that, with such a state of 
rottenness, bribery, and corruption obtaining, the 
missionaries on the remote stations have, in the 
interests of the people, looked after their worldly 
affairs. 


34 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


The missionary zeal of the Jesuits carried them 
even to Mindanao, an island so inaccessible by 
reason of its mountains and volcanoes, its impene¬ 
trable jungle, its unnavigable rivers infested with 
alligators and pirates, its fierce and savage inhabi¬ 
tants always at war with one another, that the 
Spanish Government exercised only nominal sov¬ 
ereignty over it, and was not ever able even to get 
its interior surveyed. When the Jesuits came 
there some years ago they found a Christian popu¬ 
lation only on the east and north coasts, and in a 
few isolated spots of the other coast regions. Of 
the interior tribes many were known only by name. 
Owing to the zeal of these fathers, not only in 
missionary enterprise, but also in geographical 
and ethnographical exploration, the network of 
rivers in the great island is now very well known, 
the fathers having recorded the results of their 
explorations in numerous sketches and maps. 
They have also fully described the manners and 
customs of the heathen tribes. As an instance of 
the savagery of the Mindanayas, for the most part 
fanatical Moros or Mohammedans, it may be men¬ 
tioned that head-hunting seemed till lately to be 
the great object of their existence. The man who 
had chopped off sixty heads was entitled to wear a 
scarlet turban for the rest of his mortal life, and 
scarlet turbans are still far from uncommon among 
them. As there was an inordinate desire among 
the doughty and dusky warriors to wear these 


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WORK OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 35 


turbans, it follows that the population was being 
gradually but surely thinned out. Yet even here, 
on the sea-coast of Mindanao, the Jesuits estab¬ 
lished their stations, living in the midst of their 
small flocks, with their lives in their hands, in 
close proximity to pirates, savage alligators, and 
still more k savage scarlet turbans. 

The correspondent of the Daily Telegraph 
blames the missionaries for not teaching the ele¬ 
ments of the Christian doctrine in Spanish to the 
natives, contrary, as he says, to an express law, of 
which they have been continually reminded by 
the Governor. 

The reason, to which he ascribes their conduct 
is, that they are afraid that if the people were able 
to read Spanish books and newspapers they might 
come to know too much. Any argument, how¬ 
ever absurd it may be, is evidently good enough, 
in the eyes of these writers, for use against priests. 
They are well enough acquainted with the ways 
of the Spanish officialdom to know that that law 
is a piece of blatant stupidity, devised by Span¬ 
ish officials too arrogant or lazy or indifferent to 
learn the native languages themselves. Picture 
to yourself, if you can, the missionaries scattered 
over that vast archipelago, among a people com¬ 
prising several millions, and speaking thirty dif¬ 
ferent languages and dialects, attempting to teach 
the catechism in Spanish to their flocks. The 
supposition becomes still more absurd when we 


36 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES . 


reflect that the Spanish element in the colony 
does not exceed eight or nine thousand gathered 
in and about Manila and a few other large 
towns. The missionaries devote themselves so 
thoroughly to their flocks, and identify themselves 
so completely with them, that instead of being 
able to teach them Spanish they are in danger, 
in some instances, of forgetting it themselves. 
Wingfield came across a Dominican missionary 
who apologized for his bad Spanish, on the ground 
that having lived continuously for eighteen years 
with the natives, speaking Visaya the whole 
time, he had almost forgotten his own tongue. 
Our experience in Ireland, even at the present 
time, is that in Irish-speaking districts, those chil¬ 
dren who are taught their catechism in the native 
tongue, though they may know English, have a 
far firmer grasp of the Christian doctrine than 
those who have been taught it in English. This 
fact alone shows the patent absurdity of the law 
quoted with such assurance by the correspondent 
of the Daily Telegraph . 


CHARGES AGAINST RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 37 


CHAPTER II. 

THE CHAF.GES MADE AGAINST THE RELIGIOUS 
ORDERS CONSIDERED. 

In 1896 we heard of a rising in the remoter 
parts of the Philippines. It was represented by 
the Spanish authorities, who at the time controlled 
the news, as of no moment, — an insurrectionary 
movement that they could easily cope with. Yet 
it continued, and seemed to wax strong; and, from 
rumors which began to circulate about the murder¬ 
ing of monks and friars, we began to feel that the 
insurrection was of no ordinary or commonplace 
nature. It seemed to be directed against the 
Church, and to be animated by a deadly spirit of 
hostility to the representatives of Religion. It 
was, of course, impossible at the time to form an 
opinion as to the cause of the insurrection, from 
the isolated facts which were allowed to come 
under the notice of the public. Now, however, 
the mists have cleared away; and we hope to be 
able to prove in the course of this inquiry that the 
insurrection was a premeditated and deliberate at¬ 
tack made upon the Church by a native secret 


38 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


society which was affiliated to, and adopted the 
methods of, that type of Freemasonry which gave 
the Carbonari to Italy and the Jacobins to France ; 
a type whose disastrous work has been so much 
in evidence in South and Central America. It has 
unfortunately been busily at work for the last thirty 
or forty years, indoctrinating the simple natives of 
the Philippines with the modern watchwords of 
“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” — liberty mean¬ 
ing in this case, license, anarchy, cruelty, blood¬ 
shed; equality, the confiscation of property; and 
fraternity, an impious combination against all op¬ 
posed to their designs. And foremost amongst 
these were undoubtedly from the very first the 
friars, spiritual guides of nearly six millions of 
native Christians, who, in consequence of their 
opposition, drew upon themselves the bitter hatred 
of the members of the Craft. It thus happened 
that the friars found themselves denounced and 
vilified in Spanish newspapers, in circular letters 
issued at Madrid, in speeches at the lodges and 
clubs, and in the Cortes. The grossest calumnies 
the foulest lies, were industriously circulated, to 
lower their prestige, and bring about a downfall 
of that spiritual power they had justly acquired, 
and were exercising for the good of souls. Noth¬ 
ing was known of the struggle in these countries 
until the Spanish-American war brought the Phili- 
pines into prominence before the English-speaking 
world. Then the echoes of the struggle began to 


CHARGES AGAINST RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 39 


reach our ears. Unfortunately for the friars, the 
sympathies of the world were sought, and sought 
successfully, to be enlisted on the side of the secret 
societies, or insurgents, who in this instance were 
for the most part one and the same. The news 
sources were shrewdly manipulated by astute con¬ 
spirators to foster their own purposes; on the Phil¬ 
ippine question, world-wide circulation was given 
to false and calumnious reports and interviews with 
leaders of the insurrection, full of virulent ex parte 
statements, while no exposition of views has been 
sought for from any representative of the friars. 
As an instance of the unreliability of these inter¬ 
views, circulated through such justly suspected 
channels, we give the following. The correspon¬ 
dent of the Daily Telegraph sent, a few months ago, 
through “Reuter’s Special Service,” an interview 
he had with Dr. Nozaleda, the Archbishop of 
Manila, who, by the way, is a Dominican. From 
this interview it would appear that the Archbishop 
is opposed to the friars. He is made to say: 
“ The religious Orders must go. That is unde¬ 
niable, because the whole people are determined on 
their abolition, and are now able to render their 
retention impossible.” 

His Grace is also made to blame the Orders for 
causing dissensions, and thus increasing the dis¬ 
favor with which they are regarded. The corre¬ 
spondent adds that he heard privately from a native 
priest that the reason the Archbishop hopes for 


40 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


the expulsion of the religious Orders is that the 
friars have grown too strong for him, and that he 
expects by getting rid of them to increase his own 
authority. Now, apart from the fact that the Arch¬ 
bishop is a member of a religious Order himself, 
a fact worth a dozen arguments, we may dismiss 
the whole interview as unreliable, since very re¬ 
cently the Archbishop delivered himself, to a rep¬ 
resentative of the Chicago Record , of quite opposite 
sentiments. 

Mr. Halstead made a special journey to Manila 
to study the' situation. He was most favorably 
impressed by the Archbishop, whom he has under¬ 
taken to vindicate before the people of America. 
One paragraph from his interview with the Spanish 
prelate is of special interest at the present moment: 
“ When asked what it was that caused the insur¬ 
gents to be so ferocious against the priests, and 
resolved on their expulsion or destruction, he said 
the rebels were at once false, unjust, and ungrate¬ 
ful. They had been lifted from savagery by Cath¬ 
olic teachers, who had not only been educators in 
the schools but teachers in the fields. The Cath¬ 
olic orders that were singled out for special 
punishment had planted in the islands the very 
industries that were the sources of prosperity ; and 
the leaders of the insurgents had been largely edu¬ 
cated by the very men whom now they persecuted. 
Some of the persecutors had been in Europe, and 
became revolutionists in the sense of promoting 





MOST REV. DR. NOZALEDA, O. P. 
Archbishop op Manila. 













































































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CHARGES AGAINST RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 41 


disorder as anarchists. It was the antagonism of 
the Church to murderous anarchy that aroused the 
insurgents of the Philippines to become the deadly 
enemies of priests and religious orders. It was 
true that in Spain, as in the Philippines, the 
anarchists were particularly inflamed against the 
Church.” 

Prominence was given last year, in some of the 
English newspapers, to statements made by a cer¬ 
tain Senor S. C. Valdes, a Filipino, who managed 
to have an interview sent to the papers, through 
“Reuter’s Special Foreign Agency,” that unfor¬ 
tunately met with a degree of credence on the part 
of uninformed persons. It is instructive to ana¬ 
lyze some of the statements of this gentleman, and 
compare them with statements made for a similar 
purpose by other correspondents. 

Desiring to prove that the inhabitants of the 
Philippines are not naked savages, he says: “The 
inhabitants of the groups of Luzon, the Viscayas, 
and the coast of Mindanao are very advanced in 
their education. Seventy-five per cent of them 
can read and write. There are many native law¬ 
yers, doctors, chemists, members of the military 
and scientific corps, naval and land architects, 
merchants, naval officers, engineers, and also clever 
and competent secular priests.” We believe Senor 
Valdes. In spite of what he says a little further 
on about numbers of them going abroad for their 
education, we will refer our readers to the last 


42 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


chapter, in which we showed that it is owing to 
the friars, who have all the primary, secondary, 
and higher education in their hands, that the 
people are so advanced in education; and as re¬ 
gards the native lawyers and other professional 
men, we refer them to the official reports we have 
given of Manila University, with its two thousand 
students, carried on by the Dominicans. As to 
Mindanao, what the Jesuits have done there can 
also be referred to. Valdes speaks of “ clever and 
competent secular priests,” having no word of 
praise for the religious; and yet the higher educa¬ 
tion of the secular clergy is entirely in their 
hands. 

After this eulogium of his own people by Senor 
Valdes, is it not curious to find quite an opposite 
statement, made for party purposes, by the Manila 
correspondent of the Daily Telegraph? Wishing 
to show the incompetence of the friars, he says: 
“ The education of the people is entirely in their 
hands; it is enough to say that practically it does 
not exist.” And this of a country in which 
seventy-five per cent of the people, according to 
Senor Valdes, can read and write, a percentage that 
would put more than one European country to the 
blush. 

Senor Valdes asserts that the friars exercise a 
tyrannical power in the islands. He says that they 
generally consider it an act of disrespect for the 
natives to visit them except with bare feet. It is 


CHARGES AGAINST RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 43 


curious that Wingfield in his travels never noticed 
this, and he had an eagle eye for such deficiencies. 
Valdes is not afraid to make the incredible state¬ 
ments that “ the friars and the military said that 
before the reforms should be granted they would 
first drown the insurgents in their own blood,” and 
that General Weyler, when he was captain of the 
islands, ordered the town of Calumba to be de¬ 
stroyed, and set fire to, simply to please the Domini¬ 
cans, who were anxious to show their power and 
influence. Proofs, and strong ones, not mere asser¬ 
tions, are needed when religious men, voluntary 
exiles from country and friends for the sake of 
civilizing rude peoples and bringing them under 
the sweet yoke of Christ, are accused of atrocious 
cold-bloodedness — wantonly slaughtering inno¬ 
cent men, women, and children for the sake of 
satisfying a sense of vanity! 

The truth of the matter is that the rebellion 
in the Philippines against Spanish rule was not 
the uprising of a whole people. Of what ac-' 
count, except for brute force, are some thousands 
of armed men out of a peaceful population of 
eight millions. The insurrectionary movement was 
planned, and directed almost exclusively, by the ‘ 
mestizos, or half-breeds, — the offspring of the union 
between native women and the Chinese, who form 
a large proportion of the town population, and 
do most of the retail trade. We must bear in 
mind that the leaders had at their command all 


44 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


the refractory elements of the native population, — 
the banditti, who always existed in large numbers, 
and were to be found in force not many miles 
from Manila, and the common criminals whom, at 
the first opportunity, they let loose from the jails 
to scour the country. Can we form a judgment 
of the sentiments of the Philippine people from the 
conduct of men who have treated tfreir prisoners 
inhumanly, who have burned churches, looted 
schools and hospitals, treated ordinary ecclesias¬ 
tical students with brutality, and subjected nuns 
in convents to shameful treatment? We have 
plenty of evidence that the natives on the whole 
are very much attached to the friars, whom they 
rescued, when they were able, from the hands of 
the rebels, and visited constantly while in captivity, 
doing their best to alleviate their sufferings. That 
they were peaceably disposed, and loyal to Spain 
even during the progress of the rebellion, we may 
assume from Blumentritt, who said, as late as 1897, 
when recounting his experiences as a scientific 
explorer in these islands, “ There are not many 
colonies where less blood has been shed, and also 
not many where the conquered people have so 
little hatred of, or dislike to, their conquerors. 
Already so richly endowed with the climate and 
the beauty of their native land, as well as with 
the fertility of the soil, the natives of the Philip¬ 
pines are neither despised nor downtrodden by 
their rulers, whom they, in their turn, do not 


CHARGES AGAINST RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 45 


dislike. One must, therefore, reckon them among 
the happiest in the world.” His words, of course, 
do not apply to the noisy demagogues, to the 
Freemasons, to the insurgents, at least to that 
part of them who have not been forced into revolt, 
by threats and terrorism, but they describe the 
state of the millions as yet untouched by the 
rebellion. Senor Valdes and other men of his 
stamp are fond of declaring the resolve of the 
inhabitants of the Philippines “to be free and 
civilized,” and “not to be subjected to the domi¬ 
nation of friars or monkish orders.” They speak 
the sentiments of a small, but very active and 
noisy, portion of the population; the overwhelm¬ 
ing majority are happy, peaceful, and contented. 

We now come to the painful task of noticing 
some reckless charges made by Senor Valdes 
against the honor of the missionaries, a painful, 
yet necessary task, as the accusations were laid 
before the public some months ago without com¬ 
ment or contradiction of any kind. Senor Valdes 
may think he has scored a point in making such 
outrageous statements; but he falls into error 
if he imagines that what might be readily swal¬ 
lowed by those who hate religion in Spain and 
Portugal would be as readily accepted in England, 
Ireland, and America. Apostate priests and nuns, 
lecturing under the auspices of Mr. Kensit and 
the Protestant Alliance, have long since made 
England familiar with this gross kind of calumny, 


46 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES . 

directed against our own priests and nuns, re¬ 
peated, too, year after year, without proof or 
shadow of foundation, so recklessly and shame* 
lessly, indeed, that the lecturers only excite the 
disgust of the sensible portion of the Protestant 
body. Senor Valdes, with unscrupulous audacity, 
tries to beslime the character of some of the mis¬ 
sionaries, by falsely laying to their charge the 
foulest and most unnatural crimes, which for 
decency’s sake we refrain from detailing. Ac¬ 
cording to this vile traducer the priests are devoid 
of all honor and all the moral virtues. 

Now, if this were the first time that these atro¬ 
cious charges were made, we might say with hor¬ 
ror, “ Can such things be ? ” but we learn from the 
memorial presented last April by the heads of 
the various religious orders in the Philippines to 
the Spanish government, that charges of a similar 
nature were constantly repeated in Spain during 
the previous eighteen months, both in public and 
in private; made the subject of speeches in clubs, 
published in anti-clerical newspapers — all part of 
the campaign against the friars, all done to lower 
their prestige in the eyes of the people, and to 
obtain their expulsion from the islands. If there 
were any truth in the charges, they would have 
been brought home to the friars long since; names, 
dates, and documentary proofs would have been 
given. A list of well-proven cases, say twenty or 
thirty, would have been made up, and submitted 


CHARGES AGAINST RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 47 


to the Government, to whom the Freemasons were 
clamoring for their expulsion. But, like the 
stuff the anti-clerical lectures nearer home are 
made of, the charges Were always vague, general, 
and indefinite. The religious, like men of honor, 
took no notice of these calumnies for a long time, 
hoping that gradually the storm would blow over; 
but seeing that it increased day by day, and that 
they were being constantly insulted by petty gov¬ 
ernment officials in the Philippines, they at last 
took notice of them, amongst other charges, in 
their memorial to the Government last April. 
They asked, as a matter of right and justice, that 
names and dates would be given, that documen¬ 
tary proofs would be produced. They affirmed 
that the charges were not made by those who had 
access to them, and saw them day by day; that 
their convents were open to inspection; that the 
lives of those living in the country parts were well 
known to their parishioners; that in those places 
they could not act in disguise, as their Spanish 
nationality made them conspicuous objects to all 
eyes. They asked, in case their innocence were 
doubted, that proper judicial proceedings would 
be instituted. 

It has been reserved to an American general to 
put the last finishing touch to the lurid picture 
drawn of the lives of the friars in the Philippines, 
by giving wide circulation in the columns of the 
New York Herald to a calumny which simply out- 


48 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


strips the imagination. 1 The general guards him¬ 
self by professing to know nothing about the 
matter except from “ common report,” freely circu¬ 
lated in the Philippines. Now the general, as a 
man of honor, might well have allowed these 
reports to come in by one ear, and go out by the 
other; or even if he had kept his mind in sus¬ 
pense, as is evidently the case, he might have 
refrained in the meantime from publishing the 
“common report” to the world, knowing how 
prone human nature is to fasten on the bad, and 
to believe in evil report, though unproven. “ Every 
student of Blackstone,” says the general, “ knows 
very well what was considered in the olden time 
to be the feudal right of the lord over the female 
vassal who married on his estate. It may be sur¬ 
prising to many to learn that the Filipinos allege 
vehemently that the monastic Orders claim and 
exact this feudal right on the marriage of the 
young Philippine girls.” Common report then, 
according to the general, charges the friars with 
exacting and claiming a right opposed to the fun¬ 
damental laws of Christian morality; a right which, 
if it ever existed in fact, is at any rate lost in the 
dim distance of time, and is utterly unknown to 
the world at the present day. It is a pity that 
the ordinary laws of evidence which are used in 
dealing with laymen are thrust aside when dealing 

1 See interview with General Merritt, published in the New 
York Herald , Oct. 4, 1898. 


CHARGES AGAINST RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 49 


with priests, and that fanaticism in the latter case 
is allowed full play for its imagination. Last April 
(1898) the heads of the religious Orders in the 
Philippines, in their memorial to the Spanish Gov¬ 
ernment, which by being published both in Span¬ 
ish and in French, and circulated widely, was 
intended as a challenge to the civilized world, 
demanded that all gross charges of a like nature 
should be investigated by legal means, and that 
evil-doers should be punished according to law, if 
they existed in fact. The challenge as yet remains 
unanswered; yet what would have been more easy 
to prove in the meantime than such an open and 
flagrant violation of justice and morality? If 
proofs could have been had they would have been 
gladly brought forward by the leaders of the 
rebels, who have been clamoring for tfie expulsion 
of the religious Orders for the last three or four 
years, and who are by no means simple and un¬ 
sophisticated savages, but men educated enough 
to be able to conduct newspapers of their own. 

With common sense for their guide, let Protes¬ 
tants reflect for a moment that the Philippines 
form an integral part of the Catholic Church, 
that the religious Orders that are governed by 
generals in Rome, that systematic visitations are 
made, and that the conduct of every individual is 
subjected to strict ecclesiastical scrutiny from time 
to time. Accordingly, unless they hold that the 
authorities in Rome are willing to allow an appall- 


50 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


ing evil of the kind to go on without protest, how 
can they believe that it exists at all ? 

“ In any case, I can assert without a shadow of 
doubt,” adds the general, 44 what the Herald's 
readers have been previously told by its corre¬ 
spondents — that the people are very bitter towards 
the monks.” Whom does he meaji by people? 
Had the general and the newspaper correspondents 
come in contact, during their brief stay in the Phil¬ 
ippines, with the six millions of people till lately 
under the care of the religious. Orders ? It is true 
that those who have fomented the rebellion, and the 
thousands who have joined the insurgent ranks, 
are bitter towards the monks, or rather friars. But 
it is by this time a well-known fact that numbers 
have been drawn in through sheer terrorism, and 
that numbers of others have been tortured and 
killed owing to their refusal to join. Mr. Wilson’s 
late experience on his sugar plantation bears ample 
witness to this. It is easy enough for a few thou¬ 
sand desperate and armed men to cow fifty times 
their number of peaceful and unarmed tillers of 
the soil. The millions, dumb so far, will be found, 
on closer investigation, to represent far different 
feelings towards the friars than the noisy rebels 
who, coming in contact with the American troops 
and correspondents, profess to represent the feel¬ 
ings of the great body of the nation, 

In direct contradiction to the 44 common report,” 
circulated by General Meritt, is a testimony to the 


CHARGES AGAINST RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 51 


virtue of the Spanish friars in the Philippines, pub- 
ished some years ago before the present troubles 
began, by the United States Government in a con¬ 
sular report. In this report Mr. Frank Karuth, 
F.R.G.S., who in his capacity as president of the 
Philippines’ Mineral Syndicate had wide experi¬ 
ence with the nati ves, and came into intimate rela¬ 
tions with the friars in remote provincial stations, 
writes of the latter as follows: “ In these com¬ 
munes or parishes the priest, especially if he be a 
Spaniard, as is generally the case, exercises su¬ 
preme power. He is the father and counsellor of 
his people, and helps them not only with spiritual 
advice, but also furthers their material interests. 
The Spanish priests, friars of strict orders, come to 
the islands for aye and good, and with scarcely any 
exception do their duties faithfully and devotedly.” 
Is not this testimony, given without any ulterior 
party motives, of more value than the evil reports 
poured into the ears of newspaper correspondents 
by the interested leaders of the Philippine rebels? 
(See Appendix II.) 

A few quotations from Protestant travellers who 
visited the Philippines before the insurrection had 
biassed men’s minds, and distorted plain facts, will 
go a long way in the refutation of these flippantly 
uttered and unspeakably gross calumnies. “ It is 
said,” observes the wife of the American navigator, 
Captain Morrell, “ that in Manila there are more 
convents (both of men and of women) than in any 


52 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


other city in the world of its size; and the general 
voice of natives and foreigners declares that they 
are under excellent regulations.” And then she 
describes their inmates. “ They all seemed full of 
occupation. There is no idleness in the convents, 
as is generally supposed; ” and this her own ac¬ 
count of the various works accomplished in them 
sufficiently proves. Moreover, “ their devotions 
begin at the dawn of the day, and are often repeated 
during the whole of it, or until late in the evening, 
in some form or other. I was born a Protestant, 
and trust that I shall die a Protestant; but here¬ 
after I shall have more charity for all who profess 
to love religion, whatever may be their creed.” 
Sir John Bowring, in 1859, speaks of their influ¬ 
ence, an influence generally acquired only by men 
of holy lives. He says : “ They exercise an influ¬ 
ence which would seem magical, were it not by 
their devotees deemed divine.” Dr. Ball, an 
American Protestant traveller, speaks highly of the 
character of the Spanish friars in the Philippines. 
Of one whom he met at Manila, he says: “ He 

has a fund of knowledge on almost every subject, 
speaks six or seven languages, and has declined an 
offer of the presidency of the seminary here, prefer¬ 
ring to remain always in the capacity of mission¬ 
ary.” Mr. MacMacking, another Protestant, who 
spent some years in the islands, says, in 1861: 
“ Most of the priests I came in contact with ap¬ 
peared to be thoroughly convinced of, and faithful 
to, their religion in its purity.” 


CHURCH AND CONVENT AT LIPA. 




































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































CHARGES AGAINST RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 53 


After reading these testimonies, we may well 
open our eyes in astonishment and wonder at the 
audacity of those who disseminate these flagrant 
lies about a body of men distinguished by learning 
and holiness. And yet no one, however holy and 
devoted his life may be, is safe from the tongue of 
the calumniator. Robert Louis Stevenson had to 
take up his pen in defence of the heroic martyr of 
the leper, Father Damien, vilified by a Protestant 
minister. Father Damien lived for years in that 
place of horrors, Molokai, among the lepers, and 
died a martyr of charity; and, while no Protestant 
minister was to be found heroic enough to follow 
his example, one of them,housed in his comfortable 
bungalow, and jealous of his fame, made unfounded 
charges against him. So is it ever with the world. 
And above ‘all, nothing need surprise us in the 
words and acts of the Philippine insurgents and 
their abettors. As an instance of their power of 
concocting a story to bring the friars into disrepute, 
we give the following account of an attempted 
poisoning of Aguinaldo by a Spanish prisoner and 
eleven Franciscans, taken from the Republica Fili- 
pina , one of their journals — telegraphed at great 
expense to Europe by “ Reuter’s Special,” and in¬ 
serted in English papers. The story goes to show 
that his steward saw a Spanish prisoner, who was 
allowed a certain amount of freedom, tampering 
with a bowl of soup intended for Aguinaldo. The 
steward tasted a spoonful of the soup, and fell dead 


54 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


on the spot. On learning of the affair, the popu¬ 
lace attempted to lynch all the Spanish prisoners, 
amongst whom were forty Spanish priests, detained 
as hostages; but through Aguinaldo’s intervention, 
they were protected from violence. The next day 
at the sitting of the new National Assembly, Agui¬ 
naldo’s representative told the story of his narrow 
escape, and the members unanimously adopted the 
chairman’s suggestion that they should go in a 
body to the president’s house and express their 
sympathy and congratulations. To crown this 
farce, a special thanksgiving service was held in 
the church at Malolos that evening. The really 
silly part of the story is that eleven Franciscan 
priests, confined as prisoners, were alleged to have 
been involved in the conspiracy against Aguinal¬ 
do’s life, and it was evidently on this supposition 
that all the priests were on the point of being mas¬ 
sacred. A few days afterwards the story was con¬ 
tradicted. After all the fuss and all the expense 
of the telegrams, it turned out that the steward did 
not fall dead, and that no priests were concerned 
in the supposed plot. Still the lie did its work, 
both in the Philippines and nearer home; for 
many heard it, and read about it, who did not see 
the contradiction. 

We are not at present in a position to follow 
Seiior Valdes in his statements regarding the dis¬ 
sensions between the native and European friars, 
the rigorous exactions and tithes, “ the friars call- 


CHARGES AGAINST RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 55 


ing themselves owners of the land cultivated by the 
natives, claiming rents and tithes which the real 
owners refused to pay,” but we believe them to be 
as baseless as his other accusations. Before he 
made them, the friars had already, in their memo¬ 
rial to the Spanish Government, taken notice of 
similar accusations, and asked for dates, names, and 
proofs. It is curious that no English travellers to 
these regions have taken notice of these supposed 
oppressions on the part of the friars. They are 
concocted with the design of expelling the friars 
from the islands, and confiscating their property, 
which they have lawfully acquired, and added to, 
by three centuries of industry. It is true they are 
rich in landed property, but their riches do not en¬ 
able them to live individually in luxury. They 
are used by the Orders for the purposes of the Or¬ 
ders, in furthering education, maintaining hospitals, 
orphanages, and industrial schools, and in extend¬ 
ing their missions not only in the Philippines, but 
also in China, Tonkin, Japan, and Formosa. Is 
it not better, in the interests of the people, that they 
should continue in their possessions than that they 
should be robbed of them, turned adrift, and their 
property divided among needy adventurers ? It is 
a significant fact that one of the first acts of the 
National Assembly of the insurgents was to vote a 
pension of seventeen thousand dollars to Agui- 
naldo, enough to keep several religious communities 
in existence. These political heroes are anxious to 


56 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

enrich themselves at the expense of others, and to 
spend in luxury what has been gathered together 
through three centuries of frugal living. 

A sample calumny of the kind, to which un¬ 
bounded circulation has been given, and its suffi¬ 
cient refutation from an authoritative source, to 
which no such reproduction has been extended, 
may not be out of place by way of conclusion to 
our present remarks. Let the candid reader judge 
whose words — the Rev. Mr. Parkhurst’s or Father 
McKinnon’s — bear the ear-marks of personal in¬ 
vestigation and conscientious endeavor after the 
truth—“the.whole truth and nothing but the 
truth.” 

These statements of Mr. Parkhurst were clipped 
from an article in The Cleveland Plain Dealer 
(Cleveland, O.); and the clipping was forwarded 
to Father McKinnon, who is at present in Manila, 
and has been appointed superintentent of all the 
schools in that city by General Otis, the com¬ 
mander-in-chief of the American army of occupa¬ 
tion. Father McKinnon was requested to comment 
upon the extract. The clipping and the reply are 
herewith presented. 

“ The Rev. M. M. Parkhurst, who has lived in the Philip¬ 
pines for many years, says that when a couple wish to get 
married in the Philippines, they must first pay a fee of ^6. 
or $30, to the priest, who otherwise will not marry them. 
As a native rarely earns more than $5 a month, he seldom 
has the necessary marriage fee, so that common law mar- 


CHARGES AGAINST RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 57 


riages are the frequent result. The baptismal fee, he says, 
is $25, and the death fee is $60 for an adult, and $10 for 
an infant. A poll-tax of $25 for each man, and $15 for 
each woman, is collected; and when a man builds a house, 
he must pay $10 for having a chimney blessed.” 

To this Father McKinnon replies: — 

“Responding to your favor with regard to quotation 
from the Rev. M. M. Parkhurst, I may say it is a lie from 
top to finish. I have been here now nearly six months, and 
have studied the religious question very carefully, and, I 
think, without prejudice. To do this I had every oppor¬ 
tunity, not only here in Manila, but also in the outlying 
provinces, as I have been sent frequently into the interior 
of the island to treat with the insurgent leaders. I have 
conversed with all classes of people, and I think I know 
pretty well just how matters stand. This statement of Mr. 
Parkhurst is in keeping with all the other statements made 
by irresponsible preachers concerning the condition of the 
Church here. 

“ Marriage here is like marriage any place else. If the 
parties are able to do so, they are supposed to pay some¬ 
thing. If not able to pay, the priests here marry them 
gratis, just as you or I or any other minister of the Gospel 
would do in America. For rich or poor there is no fixed 
fee; that is left entirely to the contracting parties. For 
baptisms and deaths the rule is the same. Indeed, for bap¬ 
tisms, the priest rarely receives more than one dollar, and 
more often he receives nothing at all. For deaths they go 
even further than we do in America, as every parish church 
keeps a supply of coffins on hand to give gratis to those who 
are too poor to employ an undertaker. For the grandest 
funeral here no more than $25 is paid, which would be 


58 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


equal to $12 of our money. Even the fee of $2.50, charged 
for marriage license reverts not to the Church or Govern¬ 
ment, but to the orphan asylums. 

“ Speaking of orphan asylums, the Girls’ Asylum here 
gives a dowry of $500 to every inmate upon her marriage. 
This is but a sample of what is done in the way of charity 
here. We hear great tales of the wealth of the monks, 
and inquire about the property, and find it is a large 
estate, the income of which is used to support some hos¬ 
pital, or other charitable institution under the care of said 
monks. Nowhere in the world is charity in greater evi¬ 
dence than here. The magnificent hospitals and orphan¬ 
ages, schools of industry, etc., would be a credit to any 
nation. The amount expended thus every year is enor¬ 
mous. The monks individually are as poor as the pro¬ 
verbial church mouse. The islands have a population of 
over 8,000,000 Catholics. The priests number about 
1,500; and considering the weakness of human nature, 
and the fact that many of them live alone out in the 
wilds far away from brother priests, it is not surprising 
that an occasional one falls. Even among the saintly 
(?) Parkhurst’s brethren, I have heard of an occasional 
fall in civilized America. But here these are the excep¬ 
tions. The main body of the clergy are good, holy men. 
The Archbishop is a man who would be an honor to any 
church in any country. He is a man of eminent learning 
and great sanctity. He is one of the kindest and most 
charitable men I ever met. Go to his house at whatever 
hour you will, and you will find it crowded with poor. For 
each he has a kind word and some substantial aid. Every 
cent he receives is given away in this manner. His personal 
magnetism is such that to meet him is to admire him. If 
I wished to use names I could give you many striking ex¬ 
amples of this. In our army and navy we had some 


CHARGES AGAINST RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 59 


Parkhursts who were ready to believe or say anything 
about his Grace.” 

“ For those whom I thought worth convincing that they 
were wrong, I arranged that at different times they should 
meet him. The result was the same in every case. Each 
would come away feeling that his Grace was a much ma¬ 
ligned man. To-day, among the American officials in both 
army and navy, no man is more respected than the Arch¬ 
bishop of Manila. In my estimation, there are two reasons 
for the impression which has gone abroad concerning the 
Church here. Aguinaldo, knowing in his cunning that 
there were many Parkhursts in America, thought lying 
about the Church would be an excellent way to gain the 
sympathy of Americans. I have been all over the coun¬ 
try, and find no poverty anywhere. For Indians I find 
them remarkably well instructed. The one who cannot 
read and write is an exception. There are public schools 
supported by the Government all over the country. Had 
Mr. Parkhurst desired to learn the truth, he could have 
done so from his brother ministers, who are chaplains here. 
I think they would have told him the truth, as I have 
found them to be a nice gentlemanly lot of men, ever ready 
to do me a kindness. Some of them I admire very much 
for their devotion to the sick and those in need.” 


60 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


CHAPTER III. 

THE REBELLION LARGELY THE WORK OF A 
SECRET ORGANIZATION. 

Secret societies, and, above all, that great guild 
known as Freemasonry, are certainly foremost, if 
not controlling, factors in the warfare made upon 
throne and altar during the last one hundred'and 
fifty years. 

In saying this we do not intend to express any 
opinion for or against the sentiments of Protestant 
Freemasons in England and the United States, 
numbers of whom, no doubt, reprobate the anti- 
Christian spirit this association shows on the Con¬ 
tinent and in Spanish America. They have been 
brought up to regard it as a perfectly harmless and 
beneficent institution, and cannot understand the 
attitude taken with regard to it by the Catholic 
Church. 

It is quite true that Freemasonry may have in 
these countries kept to its original constitution, 
which, we may admit, was of a beneficent nature. 
But what Catholic writers on the subject urgently 
insist upon is, that on the Continent it very soon 



COLLECTION OF SEALS AND STAMPS USED BY VARIOUS BRANCHES OF 
THE “ KATIPUNAN,” THE SECRET SOCIETY OF THE NATIVES. 










































































































































. 



















# 














THE REBELLION. 


61 


assumed a political and dangerous character. For 
a long time it was not condemned by the Church, 
and many good Catholics of rank and position 
gave their names to it. It was only when its 
dangerous tendencies came to light that it re¬ 
ceived solemn ecclesiastical condemnation, and 
that Catholics were forbidden to join it. For 
more than a century this secret guild has been at 
the bottom of the revolutions that have desolated 
the modern world. Some years previous to the 
French Revolution, German envoys of the Society 
of the Illuminati advised the French Masons to 
form a political committee in each lodge; and in 
time, as Robison remarks, these committees led 
to the formation of the Jacobin Club. “ Thus 
were the lodges of France,” says this writer, 
“converted in a very short time into a set of 
affiliated secret societies, corresponding with the 
mother lodges of Paris, receiving from thence 
their principles and instructions, and ready to rise 
up at once when called upon to carry on the great 
work of overturning the State. Hence it arose 
that the French aimed, in the very beginning, at 
subverting the whole world. Hence, too, may be 
explained how the revolution took place almost 
in a moment in every part of France. The revo¬ 
lutionary societies were early formed, and were 
working in secret before the opening of the Na¬ 
tional Assembly; and the whole nation changed, and 
changed again and again, as if by beat of drum.” 


62 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


In Spain, since its introduction it assumed a san¬ 
guinary and virulent character; it brought about 
revolutions and civil wars, embittered classes 
against one another, wronged and starved the 
clergy, robbed, turned adrift, and banished the 
religious Orders. 

There is, indeed, a good deal of difficulty in 
tracing all these evils to the action of the Free¬ 
masons ; for on the Continent, especially in Spain, 
the society has been always of a more secret na¬ 
ture than in these countries. Members of the 
Craft in England and the United States are gen¬ 
erally well known to belong to it; their halls and 
lodges in the larger towns are imposing and con¬ 
spicuous ; their emblems and badges are often seen 
in the light of day. But on the Continent we 
see very little of all this; it is a thoroughly secret 
society ; the members and their movements are 
carefully veiled from sight. As we said before, 
Freemasonry, on its introduction to the Continent, 
at once assumed a political character. The Deists 
and free-thinkers of the last century utilized it as 
a potent means of combining against the Church, 
and of carrying on their evil propaganda. In this 
way they were aided by the Jansenists, with 
different motives it is true, but still, when it was 
a question of opposing the religious Orders, with 
a whole heart. The working of the society in 
Spain in this century has necessarily been more 
stealthy and insidious than in France, for there it 


THE REBELLION. 


63 


was face to face with a truly Catholic population 
devotedly attached to the Church. 

By means of atheistical French literature, the 
works of Voltaire and other unbelievers, translated 
into Spanish, brought across the border in large 
bales, and disseminated through the Peninsula, the 
Freemasons had already indoctrinated a large 
number of active and restless spirits with revolu¬ 
tionary and anti-Christian ideas, when the troubles 
and civil war of 1834 gave them the opportunity 
they desired of making an onslaught on the reli¬ 
gious Orders. At such times the minds of men 
are in a ferment, and the most incredible reports 
may be spread abroad, and will be implicitly be¬ 
lieved by the populace. Accordingly, on the 
awful visitation of cholera, which swept over 
Europe at that time, desolating cities and towns, 
and leaving thousands upon thousands of families 
in mourning, in Madrid the report was industri¬ 
ously spread by the Masons that the Monks and 
Friars had poisoned the wells, and were the cause 
of the sickness among the people. In a mad fit of 
rage the populace rose on all sides, rushed to the 
convents and monasteries, and murdered all the 
inmates they could lay their hands upon. This 
awful event is referred to in the Memorial. 

Such a state of things may seem hardly possible 
in the nineteenth century ; and yet a similar catas¬ 
trophe nearly happened in Lisbon a few years ago, 
the circumstances of which were related to the 


64 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES . 


writer by one of the Dominicans who was living 
there at the time. It appears that the Dominican 
nuns had opened a dispensary for the relief of the 
poor. Strange to say, the frightful report soon 
went abroad that the nuns were stealing children, 
and killing and boiling them down to make a heal¬ 
ing ointment out of their remains. The city was 
in an uproar; it was unsafe for priests and nuns to 
be seen in the streets ; and the populace who really 
believed the absurd story, being in a furious state 
of excitement, were on the point of burning down 
the convent, and maltreating the nuns. 

To return to Spain, the popular rising in Madrid 
was utilized by the revolutionary party in carrying 
out, the following year, the suppression of all the 
convents and monasteries in the country. The 
religious were driven out into the world; and their 
lands, goods, libraries, and art-treasures were sold 
for the benefit of the public debt, and to supply 
means to carry on the civil war. The bishops and 
secular clergy as well were also robbed, numerous 
episcopal sees were suppressed, and the goods of 
the Church declared to be national property. The 
Freemason Government promised to look after the 
interests of the Church by paying salaries to all 
ecclesiastics. As a result, Spain was filled, in a 
few years, with a poverty-stricken and starving 
clergy, and ruined churches and mouldering abbeys 
were to be seen on all sides. The effects of that 
great spoliation are still felt in the Peninsula; for 


THE REBELLION. 


65 


though the religious Orders have revived in the 
meantime, and numerous convents and monaste¬ 
ries have been built, the priests are not in sufficient 
numbers for the needs of the population, which 
thereby, in many places, is suffering great spiritual 
destitution. 

The policy of robbery and confiscation was boldly 
advocated for the Philippines, just before the late 
war, in one of the leading reviews of Madrid. 
Juan Ferrando Gomez, in a series of articles 1 bit¬ 
terly hostile to the Philippine Friars, proposed 
their entire suppression. They should be turned 
out of their convents and missionary houses by a 
secret decree, of which they were to be kept in 
ignorance till the execution actually took place. 
Their convents in Manila would be useful as bar¬ 
racks and Government offices, their country es¬ 
tates could be divided amongst their tenants, and 
the rents formerly paid to the Friars could be com¬ 
muted into a tax to be paid to the State. More¬ 
over, the Archbishop of Manila, and any others of 
the bishops belonging to the religious Orders, 
should be forced out of the country. Besides 
that, the schools and university belonging to the 
Friars should also be either suppressed, or taken 
out of their hands. Reading these flagrantly un¬ 
just proposals in the light of recent Spanish his¬ 
tory, and with the help of the Memorial, we are 

1 In the Administration, of Madrid, one of the leading reviews 
in Spain. 


66 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

inclined to believe that, without much further 
pressure from the Freemasons, the Spanish Min¬ 
istry would have carried them out. Fortunately 
for the Friars, as well as the natives, they have no 
voice in the matter now. Under the American 
flag the religious will be treated as citizens, having 
the common right of citizens, neither to be molested 
in their persons nor robbed of their property. The 
President of the United States has declared this in 
clear terms to the Holy See. 

With regard to Freemasonry in Spanish or Latin 
America, the Rev. Reuben Parsons has recently 
written on the subject (see Appendix III.), substan¬ 
tiating all his assertions by quotations from Masonic 
organs or other unprejudiced sources, and clearly 
exposing the systematic war which the lodges in 
South and Central America have carried on against 
religion. He shows how it has started revolu¬ 
tions, assassinated the leaders of the people, exiled 
the clergy, and persecuted the Church in other 
ways. 

We will now endeavor to trace the history of 
Freemasonry in the Philippines and its connection 
with the insurrection there. In the Philippines 
Freemasonry found itself face to face with a simple 
native population, mostly Christian, and an active 
body of Spanish missionaries belonging to various 
religious Orders, loyal to their native country, pos¬ 
sessing unbounded influence over their flocks, and 
rapidly bringing under the yoke of Christ the tribes 


THE REBELLION. 


67 


who were still Pagan. The religious were a power 
that they could not hope to cope with for a long 
time; and so at first they were left unmolested, 
while the members of the Craft were gathering 
converts, and strengthening their position, among 
a class more suitable to their nefarious designs, 
viz., the mestizos, or half-breeds; the Filipinos, or 
those who, though born in the country, consider 
themselves the pure-blooded descendants of the 
early colonists; and the Spanish officials, numbers 
of whom were already Masons before they went to 
the Archipelago. 

That the Freemasonry in the Philippines has 
shown itself of a distinctly sanguinary nature is 
not to be wondered at when we consider its close 
connection with Spain. The Lodge of Action, or 
Red Lodge, composed of determined revolutionists 
ready to use the dagger, and prepared to wade 
through a sea of blood to accomplish their designs, 
represented by Mazzini and the Carbonari in Italy, 
has a large following in Spain, and was presided 
over, a few years ago, by Zorilla, the Grand Master 
of the Grand Orient of Spain. 

The following account of the growth of Free¬ 
masonry in the Philippines, taken from the Rosa¬ 
rio, an organ published in Rome, the editor of 
which has access to special information, and is in 
close touch with friars who have been living for 
many years in the archipelago as missionaries, will 
be of profound interest. In or about 1860 many 


68 THE FBI A US IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


of the strangers who frequented the Philippines 
were Freemasons, and members of the lodges of 
Singapore, Hongkong, Java, Macao, and the open 
ports of China. This was at a period when Eng¬ 
land, Holland, France, the United States, for colo¬ 
nial reasons of their own, showed hostility to 
Spain. . It was therefore quite natural that, in 
those lodges, an anti-Spanish spirit gradually arose 
in the Philippines. Seeing this spirit arising, two 
officials of the Spanish navy, Malcampo and Men¬ 
dez Nunez, Freemasons themselves, determined to 
oppose Freemasonry to Freemasonry, by found¬ 
ing lodges that would uphold the Spanish inter¬ 
ests ; they therefore established, at Cavite, the 
Lodge PrimeraLuz Filippina, placing it under the 
Grand Orient of Lusitania, and a little afterwards 
another lodge at Zamboanga, for the officials, sea¬ 
men, and civil functionaries who held positions in 
Mindanao. 

In opposition to these, the strangers residing in 
the Philippines established at Manila itself a 
lodge of the Scottish rite, as a point d'appui for the 
enemies of Spain. They thus moved the centre of 
conspiracy against Spain to the islands themselves, 
and tried to draw the natives into their nets by 
giving them important positions in the Craft. 
The two opposing factions of Freemasonry also in¬ 
creased their numbers largely by taking in the 
political exiles who were sent to the Philippines 
as a result of the part taken by them in the various 


TEE REBELLION. 


69 


civil wars in the Peninsula, most of whom gave 
their names and services to one or the other. It 
is remarkable that these two bodies, guided by 
opposite political principles, one depending on a 
Spanish centre and directed principally by Span¬ 
iards, the other directed principally by Germans, 
English, and Americans, and opposed to Spanish 
interests, found, at least in one direction, a point 
of concord, namely, in opposition to the religious 
Orders. Although the Spanish Masons were actu¬ 
ated by a love for their mother-country, still the 
well-known anti-clericalism of Freemasonry pre¬ 
vailed over every other consideration, blinding 
them to the fact that the best and most influential 
representatives of Spain in the Philippines were 
to be found in the religious Orders, who were the 
only civilizing force able to deal with the natives. 
They thus indirectly paved the way for the insur¬ 
rection ; for it is well known that from the ranks 
of the opposing factions, and principally by reason 
of their anti-clerical tendencies, arose the sangui¬ 
nary society of the “Katipunan,” which made it 
its direct aim to expel the friars, and overturn the 
Spanish government in the islands. The Grand 
Orient , the organ of this society, declared that 
one of the first articles of its programme was the 
extermination of the religious. And here it may 
be noticed that the ninth term of the proposals 
made by the insurgents to America was as follows : 
“ There shall be a general religious toleration ; but 


70 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


measures shall be adopted for the abolition and 
expulsion of the religious communities, who, with 
an iron hand, have hitherto demoralized the actual 
civil administration.” 

In the meantime the lodges increased in num¬ 
ber, so much so that two years ago there were at 
Manila sixteen lodges affiliated to the Grand 
Orient of Spain, and one at least in every pueblo 
in the province of Luzon, and also lodges in Zam¬ 
boanga and the Visaya Islands ; an Anglo-German 
club-lodge, on the books of which were inscribed 
the names of a great part of the Government 
officials; also the German Union, affiliated to the 
Grand Orient of Berlin; the society of S. Gio¬ 
vanni del Monte, a centre common to Swiss, French, 
Belgian, and Dutch Masons. In all, according to 
reliable statistics, there were a hundred lodges 
and 25,000 initiates. When the Freemasonry of 
the Philippines had gathered these numbers under 
its banner, the insurrection broke out; and of its 
25,000 members, at least 20,000 were to be found 
in the ranks of the rebels. Could any clearer 
proof than this be found that the insurrection in 
the Philippines is the direct work of Freemasonry ? 

We will here call the attention of our readers to 
two of the illustrations. The first is a collection 
of various seals and stamps, forty-one in number, 
in use by the various branches of the Katipunan, 
the sanguinary secret society of the natives. 
Masonic emblems, the compass and rule, the 


THE REBELLION. 


71 


triangle, the keys, etc., are to be found on almost 
all of them, proving beyond doubt the Masonic 
direction and constitution of the society. Turn 
now to the other illustration, — a Masonic apron, 
worn at secret meetings and also in battle, which 
was found on the body of an insurgent after an 
engagement. No concealment here of methods to 
be used, — the head dripping with blood, one hand 
grasping the bleeding head, and the* other holding 
the dagger, sufficiently attest to all beholders the 
work of the Red Lodge. 

The position of the religious Orders in the 
Philippines, just before the war broke out between 
Spain and America, had become so perilous and 
unbearable, that they addressed a long Memorial 
to the Spanish Government, exposing their griev¬ 
ances, explaining the cause of the rebellion, and 
suggesting remedies suitable for the situation. 

This Memorial is more than a mere appeal to 
the Spanish Government. It is a challenge to 
the civilized world, made by men whose dignity 
and honor have been outraged by awful and un¬ 
just charges levelled at them by their foes, and 
spread far and near by the press. The Memorial 
has been put into print by the Friars, and scat¬ 
tered through Spain; it has been translated into 
French, and now it appears (in a condensed form) 
in an English dress. Up to the present, at any 
rate, it has not drawn forth an answer from those 
whose calumnies were the cause of its appearance. 


72 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


From another point of view it is of interest, giv¬ 
ing us valuable information as to the causes of the 
rebellion, and incidentally throwing a lurid light 
upon the dark places and dark workings of Free" 
masonry. Its importance as an authoritative expo¬ 
sition lies in the fact that it emanates from the 
combined heads of all the religious Orders in the 
Philippines, men having under their spiritual care 
more than five out of the six millions of Chris¬ 
tians in the country. It is signed by Father 
Manuel Gutierrez, Provincial of the Augustinians ; 
Father Gilberto Martin, Commissary-Provincial of 
the Franciscans ; Father Francisco Ajarro, Provin¬ 
cial of the Recollects; Father Candido Garcia 
Valles, Vicar-Provincial of the Dominicans; Pio 
Pi, S. J., Superior of the Missions of the Society of 
Jesus. 

We doubt whether any official notice was taken 
of the document by the Spanish Government. It 
was on its way to Spain when, on the declaration 
of war by America, Admiral Dewey stole into 
Manila Bay by night, shattered the Spanish fleet 
the next morning at Cavite, and laid siege to 
Manila. In the meantime, too, the Spanish Min¬ 
istry had resigned; and when the documents 
arrived at its destination, a new Ministry was in 
office, under Senor Sagasta, with a new colonial 
minister. Facing bravely, but ineffectually, one 
of the greatest powers in the world, the new Min¬ 
istry was entirely taken up with cares and inter- 





MASONIC APRON USED BY THE “ KATIPUNAN.” 



























































































( 


































































































THE REBELLION . 


73 


ests on which depended the existence of Spain as 
a nation. 

A striking characteristic of the memorial is its 
outspoken insistence upon Freemasonry as * the 
principal cause of the Rebellion, a position not 
unwarranted in view of the evidence presented on 
previous pages. So much has been heard from 
the opponents of the religious Orders, that a 
word from themselves, in their own defence, will 
have all the air of novelty. We reprint the me¬ 
morial, quite confident that it will not suffer by 
comparison with what has appeared from the other 
side. 

The Memorial of the Philippine Friars to the Spanish 
Government, April, 1898. 

TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE COLONIAL MINISTER. 

In addition to the telegram sent to His Excellency, the 
Governor-General and Viceroy, on the first of this month, 
that he might bring it officially under your Excellency’s 
notice, which the said authority informs us has been done, 
we, the Superiors of the Congregations of the Augustinians, 
Franciscans, Recollects, Dominicans, and Jesuits, have the 
honor of presenting this Statement to his Majesty, King 
Alfonso XIII., and, in his royal name, to Her Majesty 
the Queen Regent, Dona Maria Christina, to the President 
and Members of the Crown Ministerial Council, and more 
especially to your Excellency as Colonial Minister. We 
address this Statement directly to your Excellency, accor¬ 
ding to law and custom, that you may deign to bring it 


74 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINE , 


under the notice of the exalted personages already men¬ 
tioned, and even if it appears desirable before the nation, 
duly assembled in the Cortes of the kingdom. 

The time has come for us faithful and constant upholders 
of Spanish rule in the Philippines to break our traditional 
silence. The hour has also come to defend our honor, 
which has been so much assailed, and our holy and patri¬ 
otic ministry, which has been the object of the most .terrible 
and unjustifiable accusations and calumnies. 

We have borne patiently with the Freemasons and in¬ 
surgents, known and unknown, who in their newspapers, 
clubs, and public meetings, have for the last eighteen 
months insulted and vilified us, accusing us, among other 
things, of having fostered the rebellion. We have discov¬ 
ered to our sorrow that a number of Spaniards, having 
resided in these islands for a longer or shorter period as 
the case might be, on their return to the Peninsula have 
spoken of us in terms which they would not have dared to 
employ if in place of being priests and friars we had been 
laymen, or if instead of being ecclesiastical congregations 
we had belonged to civil or military bodies. 

The religious of the Philippines, far away from Europe, 
alone in their ministry, scattered to the furthermost corners 
of the Archipelago, and without any other companions and 
witnesses of their labors than their own dear and simple 
parishioners, have no other defence save right and reason. 
Conscious that we have always been loyal and patriotic sub¬ 
jects, and have always fulfilled our duties and the obli¬ 
gations to our holy ministry, we have borne patiently and 
silently, according to the advice of the Apostle, insults and 
calumnies from the very persons to whom we had offered 
our services in all Christian sincerity. We have kept silence 
under insults from persons calling themselves forsooth 
Catholics, but who are infected with the practical Jansen- 


THE REBELLION. 


75 


ism of certain latter-day reformers. We even suffered in 
silence certain false information, most dishonoring to the 
religious Orders, to be brought before the Cortes last year. 
It was asserted, not only in private, but in important, cen¬ 
tres, that the prestige of the religious Orders in the Philip¬ 
pines was so shaken that it would be necessary to drive them 
out by armed force. It was also declared, as most dishon¬ 
oring to a great nation like Spain, to have commissioned 
friars to furnish information about the Philippines, and to 
have asked their advice in the form of a memorial presented 
to the Senate. In addition to all this, the gravest accusa¬ 
tions, some directed against a worthy prelate, were brought 
against us, veiled, however, under the guise of impartiality 
and gentle correction. Before long the clamors will be re¬ 
newed in a' different tone ; and we shall see the reproduction 
in the Archipelago, with more or less cruelty, of that his¬ 
torical period in the Peninsula of 1834-1840. 


REASONS FOR OUR SILENCE TILL THE PRESENT 

TIME. 

We believed that a wise and prolonged silence, added to 
that prudence and magnanimity which should always dis¬ 
tinguish religious orders, would have sufficed for good and 
discreet persons, and that they would have repelled the 
accusations, and formed a judgment that would be proof 
against these repeated ^attacks. But, instead of calming 
down, the storm appears to increase daily. The Treaty of 
Biac-na-Bato has furnished to many the opportunity of re¬ 
newing the crafty insinuation, nay, bold affirmation, already 
made by the rebel chiefs, that the religious institutes were 
the sole cause of the insurrection. One of the chiefs of the 
“ Katipunan ” secret society has declared in his paper, 
The Grand Orient , which, like a plague, is still scattered 


76 


THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


over the islands, that one of the first articles in his pro 
gramme is the expulsion of the religious Orders. In the 
Peninsula as well as here, the Freemasons and others who 
second their efforts have recommenced the war against us. 
They have published manifestoes at Madrid, in which, mis¬ 
using the name of the Philippine natives, they demand 
vexatious and disgraceful measures against the clergy. 

If under these circumstances we still remained silent, our 
silence would be attributed, and rightly so, to fear or to 
guilt. Our patience would be called weakness ; and even 
sensible and solid Catholics, who recognize the injustice of 
the attacks made against us, might be led to believe that 
we were really stained with guilt, or that we had fallen 
into such a state of moral prostration, that we could be ill- 
treated with impunity. 

THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS PERSECUTED BECAUSE 
THEY UPHOLD RELIGION. 

On what grounds are the religious bodies persecuted? 
Simply because they uphold true and sound doctrine, and 
have never shown a weak front to the enemies of God 
and of their country. If we had shown ourselves pusil¬ 
lanimous in sight of the works of Masonic lodges, and in 
presence of the propagation of the politico-religious errors 
imported from Europe ; if we Had given the faintest mark, 
not of sympathy, but even of toleration, to the men who 
were scattering broadcast false notions of liberty con¬ 
demned by the Church; if patriotism had cooled in our 
hearts, or if the innovators had not found in each Philip¬ 
pine religious an intractable and terrible adversary to their 
plans, — the religious congregations would never have been 
disturbed. On the contrary, we should have been extolled 
to the skies, the more so because our enemies do not 


THE REBELLION. 


77 


ignore the fact that, were we to help them in the Archi¬ 
pelago, were we to give them our support, or at least were 
we to remain silent, we should thereby give them an un¬ 
disputed victory. 

But they know well that our standard is no other than 
the Syllabus of the great Pontiff, Pius IX., so frequently 
confirmed by Leo XIII., wherein all rebellion against the 
powers is so energetically condemned. Yea! truly they 
hate us, and under different names and on divers pretexts 
they are making such a cruel war upon us that it would 
seem as if the Freemasons and Revolutionists had no 
other enemies in the Philippines than the religious bodies. 


THE RELIGIOUS PERSECUTED AS LOYAL 
SPANIARDS. 

Apart from their essentially religious character, the 
regular clergy of the Archipelago are the sole Spanish 
institution, permanent and deeply-rooted, which exists in 
the islands — a vigorous organization well adapted to these 
regions. While the civil and military officials on the one 
hand, who come from Spain, live here only for a time, 
fulfilling their duties more or less wisely according as it 
is for or against their private interests, and yet are igno¬ 
rant of the languages of the country, and have only a super¬ 
ficial intercourse with the Islanders, we, the religious, 
come over here to sacrifice our whole existences, dispersed 
often one by one amongst the remotest tribes. When we 
bid an eternal farewell to our native shores, we voluntarily 
condemn ourselves, by virtue of our vows, to live forever 
devoted to the moral, religious, and civil education of the 
the natives; and we have waged many conflicts in their 
behalf. 


78 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

CRAFTINESS OF THE INSURGENT CHIEFS. 

Seeing that we were the most deeply rooted, influential, 
and best-respected Spaniards in the country, and that we 
would come to no terms with them or their projects, the 
rebel chiefs determined to demand our expulsion from 
the Government. They were aware that they would be 
backed up in their demand by many among the Spanish 
residents in the Archipelago, who, led by passion and 
ignorance, lend a willing ear to all who declaim against 
the religious Orders, especially when the watchwords used 
are “ Free Thought,” “ Liberty of the Press,” “ Seculariza¬ 
tion of Education,” “ Ecclesiastical Liquidation,” “ Sup¬ 
pression of the Privileges of the Clergy.” 

Thus the password among the rebels became, especially 
since the Treaty of Biac-na-Bato, the emancipation of their 
country. They declared they had no dislike to Spanish 
administration, nor any intention of separation from 
Spain; what made them rise in rebellion were the abuses 
of the clergy, and their only demand was the expulsion of 
the religious Orders. But these were lying declarations, 
as numerous judicial and non-judicial documents contain¬ 
ing the plans of the conspirators have proved. They 
made these false professions because they knew that if 
they declared that the insurrection was brought about by 
the numerous abuses of power which have been committed 
by civil and military functionaries, they would have all 
the Spanish element in the Archipelago leagued against 
them, and would have the door closed to all their means 
of propaganda. 

ACCUSATIONS AGAINST THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 

We ask, in the first place, where are these abuses which 
are always the subject of their declamations in the clubs 


THE REBELLION. 


79 


and lodges? We preach the Gospel, and not only do we 
draw to a civilized life the barbarous tribes of the Archi¬ 
pelago, whom we have preserved peaceful and happy for 
three centuries, as the whole world knows, but we have 
always been the defenders of the natives, who are sub¬ 
jected to a thousand vexations on the part of the Spanish 
lay residents. At all times we have watched over the 
purity of the Faith and the preservation of good morals, 
showing ourselves inflexible against illegal exactions, 
immoral games, and those who lead scandalous lives. 
After all that has been written against us for so many 
years, we defy our calumniators, and do not fear an honest 
and impartial examination of our lives and works. Let 
those who murmur and speak against us, prove by exact 
dates and authentic documents that their accusations are 
well founded. 

They say we are enemies of education and of the diffu¬ 
sion of knowledge; if by education they mean the teaching 
of doctrine condemned by the Church, we are at one with 
them ; but there is no education in the ordinary sense of 
the term, primary, secondary, or superior, in the islands 
that has not been founded, encouraged, and sustained by 
the clergy. It is well known that very few of the native 
officials who went through their course in our schools have 
taken part in the rebellion ; and the proclaimers of “ Free- 
thought ” are, for the most part, individuals who failed in 
their career, and were the refuse of our classes. 

As to the accusations of immorality which are recklessly 
levelled against us, all we have to say is that everyone can 
see our monasteries and convents and ourselves, and can 
form a judgment on our lives; the parish priests and mis¬ 
sionaries are alone, surrounded by a multitude of natives; 
everyone can see what we are doing, and hear what we are 
saying; our European figures and sacerdotal character 


80 THE Fill A LIS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


bring us into such prominence before the people that it 
would be stupid to imagine that we could hide our doings. 

We consider, as not worthy of reply, the impudent asser¬ 
tion that in the country parts we are despots; that in a 
thousand ways we suck the blood of our tenants; charges 
often before refuted by the most explicit documentary evi¬ 
dence. Neither is it worth while speaking of the abomina¬ 
ble calumny of attributing to us the passage through the 
country with armed force, and the imprisoning and tortur¬ 
ing of those implicated in the first revolt. All this is part 
of the absurd fable that we are absolute masters, not only 
of the consciences of the people, but of the Archipelago 
itself; statements contradicted by the very men who make 
them, when they declare in the Cortes that we have lost all 
influence and all prestige in the islands. 

CAUSE OF THE REBELLION. 

The utter want of religion to be found among a great 
number of the Spanish residents, the facility with which 
the ancient laws of the Archipelago were changed, the in¬ 
stability of the public functionaries, a fruitful source of 
abuses, contributed for several years to discredit the Span¬ 
ish name. But Freemasonry, as the world knows, has been 
the principal cause of the social disorganization of the 
Philippines. The Hispano-Philippine Association of Ma¬ 
drid was Masonic; the Masons were almost alone in the 
work of urging on the natives to make war on the clergy 
and the Spanish residents; they authorized the founding of 
lodges in the Archipelago. It was the Masons, too, who 
formed the “ Katipunan ” society, so essentially Masonic 
that in the terrible “ compact of blood ” they make, they 
are actually imitating the Carbonari of Italy. 

In consequence of the teaching of the Freemasons, the 


THE REBELLION. 


81 


voice of the parish priest has no longer any effect on 
numbers of the natives, especially at Manila and in the 
neighboring provinces, where they are accustomed to give 
themselves airs of importance and independence; and the 
prestige of the Spanish name has grown considerably less, 
and disappeared entirely in many places. What wonder, 
then, if the powerful instincts of race awoke, and that, 
pondering on the'fact that they had a language and cli¬ 
mate and territory of their own, the rebels should try to 
build a wall of separation between the Spaniards and the 
Malays ? Is it not natural that having been brought to 
believe that the friar is neither their father nor the pastor 
of their souls, nor their friend and enthusiastic defender, 
but, on the contrary, a spoiler, and that the Spanish resi¬ 
dent is only a money-grubber, having more or less power 
and authority, they should have desired to free themselves 
from the Spanish authority? 

Six months ago the “ Katipunan ” society was limited to 
the mountains of Langua and Bulacan, where the rebel 
chiefs had taken refuge, and also counted some adherents 
among certain tribes in touch with the insurgents. But 
now the plague is widespread; the insurgents violating the 
promise made to the gallant Marquis of Estella, and at 
the call of a secret signal, have scattered themselves over 
the central provinces, and by means of cruelty and terror¬ 
ism have succeeded in enrolling in their ranks a great num¬ 
ber of natives who after the submission at Biac-na-Bato gave 
pledges of fidelity to Spain. They have also succeeded in 
intrenching themselves at Capiz and in other parts of the 
Viscayas. The rising in Zambaies, Pagasinan, I loco, and 
Cebu are all of recent origin; and the same may be said of 
the “ Katipunans ” discovered at Manila. 

However, the greater part of the country is not yet per¬ 
verted ; a wave of hallucination and fanaticism has passed 


82 THE FRIARS IN TIIE PHILIPPINES. 


over it, but the heart of the people is still sound, and with 
careful management they will return to their usual habits 
of peaoe and submission. The more wealthy classes are 
also sound, and are against the rebellion. 

We frankly tell the Government that if it does not aid 
the Church, the revolutionary movement will increase every 
day, and it will be morally impossible for the religious to 
remain here any longer. What good is it for us to do 
our duty to the people when others are allowed to undo 
our work at the same time ? Of what use is it for us to 
teach the people to be docile and submissive when their 
worst passions are excited by others, who tell them to nfake 
nothing of our teaching ? What professor could teach 
successfully if his pupils were met outside the class-room 
by respectable persons who told them to despise his les¬ 
sons? The civil authority, according to the teaching of 
the Church, ought as far as possible to be a bulwark to re¬ 
ligion and morality. If the Government, therefore, does 
not protect us from the avalanche of insults hurled against 
us; if it does not root out the secret societies; if it allows 
our sacerdotal character to be trodden under foot while our 
enemies destroy the fruit of our labors, — we regret to say 
that we cannot continue our ministry in the islands. 

Spain has bound herself very stringently to obligations 
of this nature. One of the laws of the Code of the 
Indies says expressly on this point: “We command the 
Viceroys, the Presidents, the Auditors, the Governors, 
and the other functionaries of the Indies, to favor, and 
aid, and encourage the religious orders who are occupy, 
ing themselves in the conversion of the natives to our 
entire satisfaction.” 

The spirit that moved Philip II. was seen in the answer 
he made to those who advised him to abandon the Archi¬ 
pelago, in view of the little revenue they brought to the 


THE REBELLION. 


Crown. He said : “For the conversion of only one of 
the souls that are there I would willingly give all the treas¬ 
ures of the Indies, and if they were not enough I would 
add those of Spain. Nothing in the world would make 
me consent to cease sending preachers and ministers of 
the Gospel to all the provinces that have been discovered, 
even if they are barren and sterile, for the Holy Apostolic 
See has given to us and our heirs the apostolic commission 
of publishing and preaching the Gospel. The Gospel can 
be spread through these islands, and the natives can be 
drawn from the worship of the demon by making known 
to them the true God, in a spirit alien to that of temporal 
greed.” 


UNJUST CONTEMPT SHOWN TOWARDS THE RELI- 
IOUS ORDERS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

An idea has spread since the Revolution in Spain of 1868 
that the Philippine Friars are a necessary evil, an out-of-date 
institution which has to be kept up for reasons of state. 
This unworthy idea, manifested sometimes with frankness, 
sometimes with a certain reticence* and which wounds us 
to the quick, has been constantly brought forward by our 
enemies. The natives who have been to Spain are fully 
aware of it; without leaving the Philippines, a great num¬ 
ber of natives have observed it, and are at present trying to 
propagate it in the Archipelago. Very numerous, too are 
the Spanish residents who are hostile to us, owing to an 
anti-clerical spirit or to jealousy; in fact, we have enemies 
in all classes of society. 

Many people, in consequence, think that our very exist¬ 
ence in the country is simply owing to pity and conde¬ 
scension on the part of the Government; that we are 
merely tolerated, and are of less value in the eyes of the 


84 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


civil authorities than the members of any lay profession. 
With a marvellous facility all the evils that affect the 
country are laid at our door; and every time a governor 
makes a gross blunder in dealing with the natives, the evil 
consequences which flow from it are put down to us. 
Now, every class of society has a right to ordinary respect 
and fair treatment; we receive neither one nor the other, 
but are treated with absolute contempt. This humiliating 
situation, as individuals obliged to greater perfection than 
other Christians, we patiently bear with; but as religious 
orders we cannot put up with it any longer, for we see 
only too well how this treatment injures our ministry, and 
destroys our influence with the people committed to our 
care. 

If the Government through an error to which we cannot 
give unqualified respect, since it is contrary to the real 
interests of religion and of our country, believes that the 
mission of the Orders in the islands has come to an end, 
we nevertheless say to them: “We await your disposi¬ 
tions with sincerity, but do not flatter yourselves that in 
adopting measures against our religious professions you 
can burn a light both before Christ and before Belial.” If, 
on the contrary, we are to remain in the islands, no one 
can deny that it is necessary to protect our persons, our 
prestige, and our ministry; our country must show that she 
is pleased with us, and treat us as her children; we must 
not be abandoned to our enemies as a thing of no value, 
and made victims of the resentment of the Freemasons. 
We do not fear martyrdom, which is an honor we do not 
feel ourselves worthy of; on the other hand, we do not 
wish to die as criminals abandoned by their friends and 
protectors, and deprived of all honor. 

It is incredible that religious men placed in our position 
could be the cause of the woes of the Archipelago. We 


THE REBELLION. 


85 


prefer to resign our ministry, and see ourselves expelled, 
rather than continue our mission in the islands, if the 
situation does not better itself before long. We have 
done our work well in these islands, and we feel sure that 
we shall be able to do our duty quite as well elsewhere with 
the grace of God. 


86 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


CHAPTER IV. 

THE REBELS AND THEIR GRIEVANCES. 

We cannot view without grave misgivings the 
unexpected turn that affairs have taken since the 
war, and the second war which has broken out 
between the rebels and the Americans. It is now 
plain that it was entire independence from all con¬ 
trol that the promoters of the rebellion were look¬ 
ing for from the very beginning; this being well 
known to the Friars all along, and clearly indi¬ 
cated in their memorial to the Spanish Govern¬ 
ment. Aguinaldo and his companions have 
unlimited confidence in themselves, and aspire to 
form a civilized republic. The character of this 
pure-souled patriot may be judged from a transac¬ 
tion he had with the Spanish Government. After 
the armistice of Biac-na-Bato, he was bought out 
by them, and took thousands of dollars as his price 
for leaving the country for aye, never to return. 
He pocketed the money, and went off to Hong¬ 
kong; but when the Americans came to Manila, 
and destroyed the Spanish fleet, this worthy re¬ 
turned to the Philippines, and once more raised 


THE REBELS AND THEIR GRIEVANCES. 87 

the standard of rebellion. As a result the Ameri¬ 
cans are apt to find themselves burdened with a 
war expenditure, even heavier than that borne by 
Spain in her effort to prevent a repetition in the 
Philippines of the gruesome story of San Domingo 
and Hayti. All colored and tropical races have a 
tendency to revert to their original type and the 
barbarous customs of their ancestors. The blacks 
got possession of Hayti nearly a century ago, at 
which time they were at least domesticated, and 
partially civilized, having been in contact with the 
white man for the two previous centuries. They 
have gone back, and not forward, ever since. The 
history of the black republic is a bloody revolution 
every two or three years, distinguished by acts of 
barbarous ferocity. Life there at the present day 
is a hideous caricature of civilization and Chris¬ 
tianity. Incredible as it may seem, there has been 
a revival in the remote villages of the old African 
serpent-worship, and child sacrifices, followed by 
cannibalism. 

Ten Spanish Augustinian Friars recently came 
to San Francisco from the Philippines (see Ap¬ 
pendix IV.). In an interview with the representa¬ 
tive of the San Francisco Monitor they stated that 
it was not through fear of the Americans that they 
had left Manila, but, on the contrary, they believed 
that the Church would prosper under American 
rule. They said that the respectable element in 
the Philippines, though they had been quite con- 


88 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


tent with the Spanish rule, and deeming it all that 
could be expected under the circumstances, are yet 
welcoming the Americans as a relief from insur¬ 
gent atrocities. “ The insurgents,” they said, “ are 
an undisciplined mob of rioters, led by a dema¬ 
gogue. They are the riff-raff of the islands, men 
without principle or property in most instances. 
Agninaldo has them pretty well in hand to-day, 
but to-morrow they may disintegrate into fifty 
gangs. Aguinaldo is an ungrateful renegade, who 
was fed, clothed, and educated by Catholic priests. 
He is a mere puppet in the hands of the Free¬ 
masons . 1 It is to these worthies and organized 

1 One may hardly be surprised that men who have been 
robbed of their all —reputation, home, and field of work — are apt 
to be plain-spoken and severe when commenting upon those who 
have upset their lives, and destroyed the sacred interests of the 
religion to which they had devoted themselves unreservedly. 
Friends, on the other hand, of the persons who have been the 
instruments of such ruin, are sure to uphold the destroyers as 
heroes, great of character and great of deed. Hence we need not 
be surprised at such different estimates of Aguinaldo as those 
referred to in a sketch of him published in the American Review 
of Reviews for February, 1899. 

“ Friends and enemies agree that he is intelligent, ambitious, 
far-sighted, brave, self-controlled, honest, moral, vindictive, and 
at times cruel. He possesses the quality which friends call wis- 
(Ipm, and enemies call craft. According to those who like him he 
is courteous, polished, thoughtful, and dignified; according to 
those who dislike him he is insincere, pretentious, vain, and arro¬ 
gant. Both admit him to he genial, generous, self-sacrificing, 
popular, and capable in the administration of affairs. If the 
opinion of his foes he accepted he is one of the greatest Malays on 
the page of history. If the opinion of his friends he taken as the 
criterion he is one of the great men of history, irrespective of 
race.” 



RT. REV. JOSEPH HEVIA, O. P. 

Archbishop of Nueva Segovia. 




























































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THE REBELS AND THEIR GRIEVANCES. 89 


anarchy in Europe that we may trace the origin 
of the trouble in the Philippines. Soon after the 
destruction of the Spanish fleet, the insurgents 
wrecked our schools, robbed and despoiled our 
missions and churches, and drove us into Manila. 
About fifty priests were brutally killed by them. 
As our field of work was thus laid bare, we decided 
to leave the Philippines. What made us depart 
was the discouragement of seeing the work of 
years destroyed by the men we had gone to teach, 
and the improbability of being able to build up 
the work again immediately.” 

The Filipinos have already shown proof how far 
removed they are from civilized ideals, and how 
dangerous it would be to leave them to them¬ 
selves, by their inhuman treatment of their Span¬ 
ish prisoners. Besides ordinary Spanish civilians, 
they have k6pt in captivity for several months 
hundreds of Friars, including one hundred Do¬ 
minicans, and the Dominican Bishop of Neuva Se¬ 
govia, Mgr. Joseph Hevia, whose portrait we give. 
Numbers of the Friars have lately died of the 
hardships to which they were subjected. A letter, 
received some time ago from one of them by a 
friend in Manila, describes the ferocious and Sa¬ 
tanic hatred shown towards them by the rebel 
chiefs. They were stripped of their clothes, hats, 
and shoes, robbed of their money, spat upon, tied 
to trees, and flogged several times. Daily they 
were forced to work on the public roads from 


90 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


morning to evening, under a broiling sun, receiv¬ 
ing food and drink barely sufficient to support 
life. The leaders mocked at and jested over their 
sufferings. Though violent threats were held out 
against all who succored them, their parishioners 
seized opportunities of coming to visit them, and 
alleviate their miseries. From other sources we 
learn that the noses of some of the prisoners were 
slit, and a cord passed through the aperture, to be 
used as a leading-string by their guards. The 
venerable Bishop was subjected to the grossest 
indignities. One aged Friar was placed on a 
saddle, and jumped upon till blood flowed from his 
mouth and nose. Another, it is said, clothed only 
in a rain-coat, was carried in triumph for two 
hundred yards, and then cudgelled to death amid 
savage cries. Some were crushed to death be¬ 
tween boards. Nuns in the convents were sub¬ 
jected to shameful treatment. In the name of 
common sense, we ask if men who encourage or 
permit such atrocities are fit to control and guide 
the destinies of eight millions of people. (See 
Appendix V.) 

Of course the policy of the Press in general 
has been to keep these atrocities from the eyes of 
the public. As it did not suit political purposes 
to publish them, they have been kept concealed. 
Owing to this careful management, the sympathies 
of the world have been enlisted on the side of 
the “ poor downtrodden Filipinos.” An impartial 


THE REBELS AND THEIR GRIEVANCES. 91 

examination of the grievances of the latter, and of 
the catch-cries by which the leaders have seduced 
a considerable portion of the simple natives, will 
not reveal very much against either the civil or 
the ecclesiastical rule of the Spaniard. As in 
everything human, we may suppose that neither 
was absolute perfection; but, all things consid¬ 
ered, there was less to justify rebellion in the 
Philippines than in most parts of the world where 
the black is ruled by the white man. 

One of the grievances of the rebels is that nearly 
all the ecclesiastics in the Archipelago have been 
Spaniards, and they demand an entirely native 
clergy. Now, the Catholic Church has been al¬ 
ways most anxious to form a native clergy in 
missionary countries, but insuperable difficulties 
have often prevented the realization of this idea. 
Among colored races there is a paucity of real 
vocations; it is hard enough to get the people 
to live up to the Christian ideal without adding 
thereto the grave responsibilities and life of self- 
sacrifice of the priesthood. An example in point 
is the Black Republic of Hayti. It is a Catholic 
country, nominally at least. The people have 
retained the Faith taught them by the white man, 
though preserving such a dislike to him that no 
white man can own a yard of land in the country. 
Yet such is their inability to provide themselves 
with priests of their own blood that they are 
forced to fall back on the services of a French 


92 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


Bishop and French missionary priests, who do all 
the spiritual work of the island. Another case 
in point is that of Cuba, an island containing a 
million and a half of inhabitants, Cubans and Span¬ 
iards, of which only forty-three of the former are 
to be found in the ranks of the priesthood. There 
has never been any distinction made between 
Cubans and Spaniards in the two Seminaries of 
Havana and Santiago de Cuba; all are received 
alike, and treated alike if they have a vocation; 
of the forty-three priests, twenty-eight hold par¬ 
ishes, and the rest have other positions of trust, 
which shows that it is simply owing to" lack of 
vocations and not to any other cause that we must 
ascribe their fewness in number. In the Philip¬ 
pines, as far back as two centuries ago, the experi¬ 
ment was made of forming a native priesthood, 
with doubtful success, however, as Dampier in¬ 
forms us that the natives generally held the na¬ 
tive priests in contempt, while holding the Spanish 
clergy in the greatest esteem. We must, perforce, 
conclude that in the Philippines, as in other coun¬ 
tries, it is simply lack of vocations that keeps the 
number of the native clergy at such a low ebb. 

Another grievance, brought well to the front by 
those who have written on behalf of the Filipinos, 
is the taxation, which is alleged to have been 
excessive. The writer is informed by one who 
lived many years there that it was not. However 
this may be, all taxation is odious to primitive 


THE REBELS AND THEIR GRIEVANCES. 93 


and half-civilized communities, who are inclined 
to look upon the most necessary taxes, without 
which no stable government could be carried on, 
in the light of oppression. The Americans will 
have the same difficulties to face with regard to 
taxation as the Spaniards had, though not in the 
same degree maybe, as the country will be opened 
to trade in a freer way than formerly. In the 
interests of order, and also to protect the people 
from unjust imposts, the Friars were in the habit 
of acting as their counsellors in these matters, 
and used to exhort their parishioners publicly and 
privately to pay the necessary taxes. A passage 
from Blumentritt, whom we have quoted more 
than once in our previous chapters, will go to 
show that all this was done in the interests of the 
people : “ In the following centuries the Friars con¬ 
tinued to extend their protecting hand over "the 
natives, preventing, as far as possible, any oppres¬ 
sion on the part of the Government employes.” 
Yet this action of the Friars, good, charitable, and 
necessary under the circumstances, has been used 
by the promoters of the rebellion as a fulcrum to 
raise the Friars, in the eyes of the poorer classes, 
into the invidious position of tax-gatherers, tyrants, 
and abettors of oppression. Without doubt, cruel 
methods, for which, however, the Friars were not 
responsible, were in vogue in dealing with de¬ 
faulters, as we may see in Dean Worcester’s lately 
published work on the Philippines; but it is noth- 


94 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


ing less than downright hypocrisy to raise a chorus 
of condemnation against the Spaniard on this 
score, when it is well known that no other nation, 
in trying to solve the eternal difficulty about the 
taxation of colored and subject races, has emerged 
from the conflict with clean hands. We remem¬ 
ber reading some years ago of very cruel methods 
employed in the gathering of the taxes in British 
India, in some of the up-country districts; and 
within the present year of grace, 1899, two books 
have appeared dealing with the English and the 
Dutch in South Africa, 1 both of which, in describ¬ 
ing the punishment inflicted on those refusing to 
pay taxes to the ruling powers, could easily give 
points to the colonial Spaniard for cruelty. What 
is very remarkable about the Protestant missionary 
is that, instead of condemning the barbarities de¬ 
scribed in his book, of which he was an eye-witness, 
he approves of them, even to the extent of giving 
his sanction to the inhuman crime of blowing up 
with dynamite the caves in which four hundred 
men, women, and children had taken refuge. The 
Rev. Mr. Rae’s opinion of the campaign against 
Malaboch for his refusal to pay taxes, a campaign 
in which women and children, and men bearing 
flags of truce were fired upon recklessly, is that 
“the Transvaal Government was doing a much 

1 “ Rhodesia and its Government,” by H. C. Thomson. 
“Malaboch ; or Notes from my Diary on the Boer Campaign of 
1894 against the Chief Malaboch,” by the Rev. Colin Rae. 


THE REBELS AND THEIR GRIEVANCES. 95 


better work than any Christian missionary has yet 
accomplished.” God help the Filipinos if Protes¬ 
tant missionaries of this description are going to 
overrun the field of labor left vacant by the 
deaths and expulsion of the Spanish Friars. One 
great test of the mild rule of the Spaniard in that 
country is that the native population has increased 
since the conquest, instead of being almost exter¬ 
minated, as is the case in North America and in 
many of the colonies of European States. We 
hope that the American rule will be characterized 
by clemency and justice. A hypocritical cry has 
been raised in the States about the tyranny and 
oppression under which the natives are said to be 
groaning. The rule of the Spaniard has indeed 
been imperfect enough; but America should ap¬ 
proach the question of reform with becoming 
modesty, seeing that her own record in dealing 
with the Indians has been stained by many a 
crime against human rights. They have been 
robbed of the country which once was their own, 
and driven back from reservation to reservation, 
while even the rights guaranteed to them by 
Government as compensation for what they lost 
have been often filched from them by unscrupu¬ 
lous officials. The light recently thrown on the 
case of the Pillager Indians has disclosed cruelty, 
open robbery, and a disregard of solemn obliga¬ 
tions. In the Philippines the Americans will 
find the natives still in possession of their coun- 


96 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

try; a people, once wild and nomadic like the 
Indians, brought into settled habits of life by three 
centuries of missionary effort; a people, in fine, 
who, whatever is said to the contrary by noisy 
declaimers and demagogues, have been on the 
whole well pleased with their lot. 

It is quite evident from the words and acts of 
the rebels that they have been casting envious 
eyes on the large landed estates of the Friars, 
hoping, on their expulsion, to have a division of 
the spoils among themselves. Already, before the 
war, an iniquitous plan of confiscation was boldly 
advocated in Spain itself. We now learn to our 
surprise, from the Church News (Washington, 
D. C.), that this cry has found an echo across the 
Atlantic from Protestant pulpits in the States. 
Besides the fact that confiscation would be rob¬ 
bery pure and simple, as the estates are not na¬ 
tional property, and have not been given by the 
Government, but have been acquired in the usual 
way by purchase, and in the course of three cen¬ 
turies have naturally grown large, confiscation 
of the estates would mean a great calamity to the 
country, even if the Friars were allowed to go back 
quietly to their parishes, and resume their spiritual 
ministrations among the people. For it was by 
means of the estates that the Friars introduced 
agriculture and settled habits of life among tribes 
originally nomadic; it was by means of the es¬ 
tates that they got them to live in villages, and 


TAGALOCS PLANTING RICE TO THE SOUND OF MUSIC. 



















































































































































































































































































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• 









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THE REBELS AND THEIR GRIEVANCES. 97 

introduced amongst them the arts of civilized life; 
it was by means of the estates that they acquired 
the power of inducing them to labor with a certain 
amount of regularity and method, the great safe¬ 
guard against a relapse into a state of savagery. 
Giraudier, who was director of the “Diario ” of 
Manila, and spent thirty years in the Archipelago, 
says something very much to the point: “ The 
natives, with some rare exceptions, are in need of 
tutelage, without which they would fall back to 
the customs of their ancestors, a tutelage that no 
one can exercise better than the Friars.” The 
latter, in truth, made themselves all in all to the 
people. Within the precincts of the monasteries 
were to be found workshops for teaching car¬ 
pentry, forges for teaching the natives the working 
of iron, brick and tileyards, — in fact, most of the 
mechanical arts were fostered and encouraged by 
the Friars. The villages they formed around 
them presented a pleasing picture of happiness 
and content, in startling contrast to the homes 
of those who were still pagan and uncivilized. 

A former British consul thus describes them: 
“ Orderly children, respected parents, women sub¬ 
ject but not oppressed, men ruling but not des¬ 
potic, reverence with kindness, obedience with 
affection — these form a lovable picture by no 
means rare in the villages of the Eastern Isles.” 
Will such a happy state of things exist under new 
conditions? We are very much inclined to doubt 


98 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

it. The experiment tried in some of the islands 
of the West Indies of making the blacks small 
freeholders, and planting them on the bankrupt 
planters’ estates, has not been attended by such 
beneficial results to the land as to justify our 
hoping that a similar experiment in the Philip¬ 
pines will prove a success. The natives of the 
tropics in general are like overgrown children, 
blessed with the virtues and cursed with the 
faults of children, rejoicing in present abundance, 
and destitute of that measure of forethought for 
the morrow, without which there can be no human 
progress. What a contrast at the present day do 
the civilized villages under the paternal care, and, 
if you will, government, of Friars present to the 
wild nomadic life still led by the natives of Min¬ 
danao, whom the Jesuit fathers are trying to 
bring under civilizing influences. We find, from 
letters written lately by some of the fathers there, 
that human sacrifice is still in vogue, and mur¬ 
der, pillage, and slave-catching extremely common. 
We fear that self-government, bringing in internal 
conflicts between the various parts of the Archi¬ 
pelago, would gradually reduce most of it to this 
deplorable state of things, and that the Philippine 
Republic would be as great a travesty on civiliza¬ 
tion as Hayti. 


SECTARIAN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT. 99 


CHAPTER V. 

THE SECTARIAN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT. 

We cannot too strongly emphasize the great 
interest that the change of government in the 
Philippines should have for the English-speaking 
Catholic public, seeing that a Catholic population, 
as large, if not larger, than the combined Cath¬ 
olic population of England, Ireland, Scotland, and 
Wales, is about to be brought under the influence 
of the English-speaking world, and in close touch 
with the Catholic Church in America, and, perhaps, 
later on, with ourselves. It is not more than a 
year ago that the Philippines were a terra incog¬ 
nita to us all, of which we knew the name, 
but hardly more. For the last ten months they 
have been brought under our notice almost daily 
by the newspapers, and monthly in the pages of 
the magazines. In the meantime their control 
has passed from Spain to America, and a conflict 
of opinion is going on in the States as to the de¬ 
sirability or otherwise of undertaking the responsi¬ 
bility of their future government. Under the old 


100 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


regime , Church and State were united: a hearable 
condition when the State was professedly Cath¬ 
olic, but absolutely unbearable when antagonistic 
influences control the Government, hamper the 
Church in her freedom of action, and degrade her 
into servitude while professing to be her protector. 
In the new condition of things the Church will 
be placed in the same position as it holds in 
America, free to flourish or to die, depending 
entirely on its own resources, and neither helped 
nor persecuted by the State. Its ministers, though 
not enjoying any special privileges, will be pro¬ 
tected in their persons and property in common 
with all other citizens. Its religious orders will 
receive the same recognition as secular corpora¬ 
tions, and their corporate property will be re¬ 
spected. So far so good; for it was to be feared 
that the Spanish Government, who had been de¬ 
terred only by political motives from suppressing 
the Orders, yielding at last to the pressure of the 
Freemasons, might have confiscated their property, 
and either secularized their members or expelled 
them from the islands. Still we cannot close our 
eyes to the fact that dangers from a different 
quarter loom up which it much behooves Catholics 
to carefully consider. There is a pressing necessity 
of being alive to those dangers, if worse evils than 
ever are not to befall that large Catholic popula¬ 
tion of the Far East. 

As might be expected, the Protestant missionary 


SECTARIAN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT. 101 

bodies have inaugurated a movement for sending 
out missionaries of their own to the Archipelago. 
The Rev. John R. Hykes was directed last Sep¬ 
tember by the American Bible Society to proceed 
from Shanghai to Manila, and investigate con¬ 
cerning the Philippines “ as a field for Bible work.” 
He submitted his report in a very short time, 
having made up his mind on the religious needs 
of the people, the scandalous lives of the Friars, 
and the superstition of their benighted parishioners 
with incredible rapidity. His sensational report 
duly appeared in the American papers as the 
“Startling Revelations made by the Rev. John R. 
Hykes.” Sure of a sympathetic audience, he laid 
on the colors thickly. The report need not occupy 
much of our attention. Half of it is made up 
of ordinary information about the country that 
any one could get for himself out of a good en¬ 
cyclopaedia, and the other half is a rehash and 
repetition of the charges already dealt with by us 
in previous chapters. One statement is, however, 
worth noticing, as it clearly indicates the hope¬ 
lessness of getting fair and unbiassed treatment 
from the enemies of the Church. Mr. Hykes 
states that he was shocked by the stories of im¬ 
morality brought against the Friars. And, to 
make an impression, he adds that the people 
who told him the stories said they were prepared 
to give names, dates, and places in confirmation of 
what they said. Now, as already noted, names, 


102 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES . 

dates, and places were the very things asked for 
by the Friars in the Memorial to the Spanish 
Government, as far back as last April; but their 
enemies, finding those details beyond their power, 
have adopted the simpler process of repeating the 
calumnies to all who, like Mr. Hykes, give them 
a ready and sympathetic hearing. Mr. Hykes, 
who never went beyond Manila, presumes to judge, 
in a few days or weeks, of the spiritual condition 
of six millions of Christians, and more than a 
thousand priests, scattered over the whole Philip¬ 
pine Archipelago. (See Appendix VI.) We are 
afraid that too many of the type of Mr. Hykes 
will be found among the new missionaries of the 
Philippines, coming in crowds, with their wives 
and children, to spread, forsooth, the pure light of 
the Gospel, or rather to engage in the more con¬ 
genial task of vilifying the Catholic Church. 

In an American Protestant missionary review, 
there is an article on the Philippines, by a former 
agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society 
in that country. The article, needless to say, is 
full of gross misrepresentations. It puts down 
the Christian population as seven million Roman¬ 
ists; the writer denies the ordinary title of Chris¬ 
tian to Catholics. This emissary of the Bible 
Society writes: 44 The question now asked on all 
sides is — Are the Philippines at last to be opened 
to missionary effort? Personally, I feel that a non¬ 
sectarian, but strictly evangelical, mission, aiming 


SECT Alii AN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT. 103 

at the Christianization of the whole territory, is 
what would succeed best.” We may gather from 
the whole tone of this Protestant missionary re¬ 
view what a low type of Protestantism it repre¬ 
sents, a type largely made up of self-presumption, 
ignorance, and fanaticism. Throughout the paper 
Catholics are not once designated Christian. It 
speaks of the nineteenth century being the first 
century of Christian missions, ignoring all the 
apostolic work of the Catholic Church. It says 
in another place that there were no Christian 
Chinese at the beginning of this century, igno¬ 
ring the hundreds of thousands of Chinese who have 
known and loved Jesus Christ since the days of 
St. Francis Xavier, numbers of whom sealed their 
faith with their blood. It divides the population of 
the country into pagans, Romanists, and Christians 
— the latter, of course, being Protestants of one de¬ 
nomination or another. To such absurd lengths 
does religious rancor bring it, and all connected 
with it. Catholics give the title of Christian to all 
who are baptized and profess belief in the Divinity 
of Jesus Christ. They would not deny it even to 
the Rev. Mr. Hykes, bad as he is. But perhaps 
our new missionary friends may be similar to those 
of whom Marshall speaks in his “Christian Mis¬ 
sions,” who went out to evangelize the South Sea 
Islands, and taught the people that baptism was 
merely a ceremony not at all essential to salvation, 
thus showing their want of belief in baptismal 


104 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


regeneration. At any rate, it will be news to the 
Filipinos to hear for the first time from these 
enlightened men that they are not Christians. 

That these Bible scatterers can and will do harm 
there is no doubt. Already they have flooded 
Porto Rico with tracts and pamphlets, crammed 
with the usual vile charges against the Catholic 
Church and her ministers. But it is equally cer¬ 
tain that they will never succeed in making the 
Philippines a Protestant country. It is a matter 
of notoriety that Protestant missions are not over¬ 
whelmingly successful in any part of the world, 
and that the funds are kept up in most instances 
by glowing and rosy-colored, if not altogether ac¬ 
curate, reports, sent by the missionaries to their 
supporters at home. The review which I have just 
quoted is forced to acknowledge that in Brazil, 
after thirty-five years’ work, there are only eight 
thousand Protestants out of a population of six¬ 
teen millions. No less than eight American Prot¬ 
estant Missionary Societies have been working there 
together, well supplied with funds, as is always the 
case; and yet this is the result. In fact, eight 
thousand may not be the result at all, for the mis¬ 
sionaries have, very often, peculiar methods in the 
science of statistics. In Mexico, too, they have 
been at work for many years unmolested by the 
authorities, and yet they have but wretched re¬ 
sults to show for themselves at the present day. 
They make no impression either on the rich or 


SECTARIAN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT. 105 

the very poor; any successes they have being 
amongst the impecunious middle classes, the chil¬ 
dren of whom they teach gratuitously in their 
schools, and feed and clothe, and who carry away 
with them from these schools, as the principal re¬ 
sult of the religious training they receive, a bitter 
^hatred of the Church in which they were born. 
Just as in Mexico, so the Protestant missionaries 
are sure to make proselytes among the same classes 
in the Philippines, from which classes we know that 
the promoters of the rebellion have been mainly re¬ 
cruited ; but the better classes and also the poorer, 
whatever their shortcomings, have the old Faith 
and are intensely devoted to the Catholic Church. 
These are no more likely than the people of Mex¬ 
ico and Brazil to be led to accept the mutilated 
form of Christianity which will be presented to 
them by Mr. Hykes and his friends; unless, in¬ 
deed, there is such a deplorable dearth of priests 
that they will be left without instruction and 
guidance. 

There are grave problems ahead which will tax 
the wisdom of the American Congress far more than 
the military occupation of the country. John Fore¬ 
man, who spent some years there, and claims to be 
a Catholic, advocates (.National Review , September, 
1898) the disendowment of the Church as a neces¬ 
sary financial measure which would bring a certain 
amount of relief to the colonial treasury. With 
the exception of £8,000 a year paid to the Arch- 


106 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

bishop of Manila, and <£1,500 to each of the three 
other bishops, it is difficult to see how the endow¬ 
ment comes in except as a measure adopted by 
every civilized State in dealing with its uncivil¬ 
ized subject races ; and unless the United States is 
prepared to abandon the role of civilizer, she will 
be obliged to keep up the paltry endowment made 
in the past by Spain for that purpose. The Church 
in the Philippines is, on the whole, self-support¬ 
ing. She is in the position that the Church in 
France, Spain, and Portugal was before the Rev¬ 
olution, which, when it appeared successively in 
each country was followed by a seizure of ecclesi¬ 
astical property. The salaries paid to the clergy in 
those countries are given as a compensation for 
past robberies. The writer has been at pains to 
get at the truth in this matter and has put himself 
in communication with a Dominican Friar, who 
lived for twenty-seven years in the Philippines, 
and now holds the distinguished position of Rec¬ 
tor of the Spanish-Dominican College, in Rome. 
From him the writer has received the following 
information regarding the landed estates of the 
Friars, and the salaries paid to them by the Span¬ 
ish Government. As far as he knows all these 
estates were acquired by purchase, and were not 
given by the Government ;* they hold the title- 
deeds of them in their possession. He is not pre¬ 
pared to say whether on their first introduction to 
the country, three centuries ago, the Government 


HARBOR OF MANILA. 
















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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SECTARIAN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT. 107 

made them grants of land; but we ourselves may 
infer from the early history of the Dominicans 
there, that whatever they got was from the early 
Spanish colonists and the converted natives as free 
gifts. He adds that in any case the introduction of 
agriculture is due to their exertions. The Friars 
who ministered to the spiritual wants of the people 
may be placed in three categories. There were, 
first of all, the ordinary parish priest, who lived 
among a settled Catholic population. He subsisted 
on his benefice, which is not Government property, 
and was endowed by no subsidy from the Govern¬ 
ment. Secondly, there was the missionary parish 
priest, who lived in a parish where the majority are 
Catholics, but which also contained a proportion of 
the heathen. He received some salary from the 
Government, but much less than that given to 
the missionaries pure and simple, who lived in the 
midst of an entirely heathen population. These 
latter, whose business it was to civilize as well as 
convert the people to Christianity, and to teach 
them agriculture and the mechanical arts, were 
paid according as the mission district was large or 
small. In the large districts they received <£200 
annually, and £50 a year was paid to the native 
priests who acted as their assistants and curates. 
In the smaller districts the sum allowed was £100. 
The Jesuits, too, on their return to the Philippines 
some forty years ago, whence they had been ban¬ 
ished in the middle of the last century, got an an- 


108 THE Fill AES IN TIIE PHILIPPINES. 


nual subsidy as compensation for the lands they 
formerly possessed, which had been confiscated by 
the Spanish Government of the day. Something 
also was given towards the education of young 
Franciscan missionaries, and they were allowed 
their passage out from Spain. The figures we 
have quoted are modest enough, seen in the light 
of modern colonial salaries and expenditure. A 
continuance of the very moderate subsidies allowed 
to the missionary Friars by the Spanish Govern¬ 
ment would no more mean a union between 
Church and State than did the “ contract ” sys¬ 
tem which was sanctioned by Congress up to 1894, 
for dealing with the education of the North Ameri¬ 
can Indians. According to this system, both Cath¬ 
olic and Protestant missionaries were paid by 
Government according to the number of pupils 
who attended their schools, and these schools, of 
course, were taught on strictly denominational 
lines. That system had most beneficial results as 
long as it lasted, and was acceptable to the Indi¬ 
ans. Its abandonment in fay or of the public-school 
system has resulted in the crying injustice of com¬ 
pelling Catholic Indian fathers and mothers to send 
their children to certain schools to which they have 
a conscientious objection. 1 

1 A recent report in the daily papers (April, 1899), that one or 
another of the most civilized Indian tribes, of which remnants 
remain, is determined upon emigration from the United States to 
Mexico, because of the fairer treatment they have reason to look 
for there, will certainly not surprise those who are familiar with 


SECTARIAN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT. 109 


The school question is one of the grayest prob¬ 
lems that the American Government will be called 
upon to face when her troops have effectively 
occupied the Philippines. One of the cries of the 
rebel leaders is for the secularization of the schools, 
and this cry, emanating from infidel and secret 
society sources, will assuredly be echoed by the 
Protestant ministers. It was these latter who, 
seeing their ministrations rejected by the Indians, 
raised the agitation against the “ contract ” system. 

It is a shame and a wonder to find professed 
ministers of religion joining in a cry with the 
professed destroyers of religion. Secularization 
of education is always the first cry among those 
who oppose the Catholic religion. According to 
the showing of Dr. Parsons, it was attempted 
and sometimes successfully carried out in Colom¬ 
bia, Chili, and Ecuador, in which latter country 
the bishops were banished because they protested 
against it. Yet in spite of the anti-Christian 
spirit, exhibited in this and in many other ways, 
Dr. Parsons makes it clear that the masonic lodges 
in Peru actually receive aid out of the funds sup¬ 
plied to Christianize (according to sectarian ideas) 
the natives by the Protestant American public. 

The notorious ex-Indian commissioner Morgan, 
now a Baptist prophet, has already sounded a 

the broken promises and rescinded obligations that have marked 
the Government’s dealing with the lied man and his Catholic 
educators and missioners. 


110 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


characteristically aggressive note on this point, 
and is conjuring the Government to drive the 
Catholic religion out of all the schools in Cuba, 
a movement already accomplished in the eastern 
part of the island. Morgan says : “ Here is a field 
opened for the missionary spirit, such as the young 
people of our country have never yet seen. To 
carry thither and plant the seeds of civilization, 
and to do this in the joyful confidence that all 
official assistance is assured to them, will doubt¬ 
lessly fill with enthusiasm hundreds of ambitious 
young teachers.” We may wonder what Morgan 
means by “ official assistance ” given for the spread¬ 
ing of Protestantism among a Catholic people, 
when, according to theory, the American Consti¬ 
tution does not support one form of religion over 
another. But theory is one thing and practice is 
another; and though in theory Church and State 
are entirely separate, the theory has not, in the 
past, hindered the United States from giving sub¬ 
stantial assistance to Protestantism. This is how 
the case stands for America. Rightly or wrongly 
she has taken over an enormous Catholic popula¬ 
tion in the East. If she is not able to make any 
concession on the score of religion, or to stretch a 
point to meet the wishes of the people and govern 
them according to their ideas, then it is only con¬ 
sonant with reason and justice that her Constitu¬ 
tion, which never contemplated colonial empire, 
will have to be modified to meet the exigencies of 


SECTARIAN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT. Ill 


a situation unimagined by its original founders 
and makers. But, in reality, is any modification 
of the Constitution necessary in order that relig¬ 
ious instruction may take place in the schools of 
the Archipelago? In Ireland there is no State 
Church, and yet the National School System is 
so arranged that religious instruction can he given 
for half an hour every day of the week. The sys¬ 
tem is in theory undenominational, but in practice 
denominational. 

An early solution of the difficulty might be 
some such procedure as the following. Let the 
parish priests be managers of the schools, and have 
a voice in the appointment of properly certified 
masters and mistresses, and let a fixed time be 
devoted to religious instruction every day. If the 
Protestants succeed in attracting converts, and are 
able to gather a sufficient number of children in 
any place to form a school, they can receive the 
same treatment as regards payment and control of 
religious instruction. Thus religious dissension 
would be reduced to the minimum. Seculariza¬ 
tion of education would tend to drive every form 
of religion out of the people, for Protestantism 
could not hope to make headway for a long time 
in the Philippines; as, to say the least, it would 
take some years for the ministers to get a suffi¬ 
cient knowledge of the various languages in use, 
and establish themselves in face of the opposi¬ 
tion they are sure to meet with. It would also put 


112 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

all the Friars in opposition to the Government, 
while fair treatment would make them its best 
friends, and urge them to keep the people as loyal 
to the American Constitution as they kept them 
to the Spanish Crown for three centuries. 

If, then, the Government, after due inquiry, find 
that the vast majority of the people do not join in 
the cry for secularization, but desire to have the 
Catholic religion taught in the schools which their 
children attend, it would be nothing short of re¬ 
ligious persecution to introduce the public schools 
system of the States into the Philippines. It is 
ever to be borne in mind that the new American 
possession in the Far East is one in which the 
great bulk of the people are practical Catholics 
who attend to all their religious duties. 

To counteract the baleful influence of the Prot¬ 
estant missionary and Bible societies, it will be 
necessary for the Catholic Church in America to 
be alive to the new and grave responsibilities thus 
thrown upon her by the hand of Providence, and 
to send out English-speaking priests at once to the 
Philippines, to make up for the great dearth of 
priests caused by the excesses of the rebels. Before 
the rebellion they numbered between one and two 
thousand, a small number in comparison with the 
Catholic population. Fifty have been killed out¬ 
right; many others have died of the hardships 
undergone in captivity; while several hundreds 
have left the country, apparently with no intention 


SECTARIAN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT. 113 


of returning. Every year till last year, bands of 
enthusiastic young missionaries used to go out from 
the colleges in Spain to fill up the gaps in the ranks 
of the Friars, caused by sickness and death. That 
perennial source of life and strength can no longer 
be relied upon under the new conditions. The 
energies of the Spanish Friars will most likely be 
expended in Spain itself, where the lack of priests 
is still severely felt, and in developing their great 
and flourishing missions in China, Japan, Tonquin, 
and Formosa. 

It is a matter of astonishment that the Church 
in the United States has up to the present no organ¬ 
ization for supplying foreign mission. Perhaps 
the struggle to keep abreast in numbers with the 
growing Catholic population has absorbed all her 
energies. But now, for the first time in her history, 
she must cast her eyes beyond her boundaries, and 
send speedy help to the millions of children who 
have been given to her keeping, and whose voice 
may be heard from across the wide ocean, calling 
to her for spiritual help and ministration. Let her 
gaze steadily and thoughtfully on the vast harvest 
of souls given unto her. She shall reap where. 
others have sown and planted. Let her gird her¬ 
self to the work, and go forth and gather with joy 
the good wheat that others — the poor Spanish 
missionaries — have sown in tears and cultivated 
through much tribulation. 

A fact of interest in connection with the aspect 


114 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


of our subject under consideration is the challenge 
sent to Archbishop Ireland by an American Pres¬ 
byterian of authority in his sect. He tells the 
Archbishop in effect that if the Catholic Church 
in the United States will undertake the missionary 
equipment of the Philippines, his sect will gladly 
withdraw from the field, and devote their efforts 
to Africa instead. Without attaching any more 
importance to this declaration than it deserves, 
especially as it is founded on the false assumption 
that one Gospel is preached by Catholic priests in 
Washington and another in Manila, we may, nev¬ 
ertheless, infer from it that these men believe 
they would have a much easier task in dealing with 
the Spanish missionaries than with Catholic mis¬ 
sionaries from the States. Without saying any¬ 
thing in disparagement of the learning of a body 
of men which has produced a Gonzalez, one of the 
greatest philosophers of the century, we believe 
that American priests, being more in touch with 
modern times and more open to modern ideas, 
could give them valuable lessons in the conflict 
between the Church and the world, as it is carried 
on in our own days. It is not by profound theo¬ 
logical arguments that we can deal with men 
who can neither understand nor appreciate them. 
Priests are wanted for the Philippines who can 
make their voices heard beyond its boundaries ; 
who can mould public opinion by means of the 
daily Press; who can keep in touch with the pol- 


SECTARIAN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT. 115 


itics and legislation of the United States; and 
can bring public opinion there to bear on unjust 
and unfair treatment, if anything of the kind is 
attempted against the Catholics of that unfortu¬ 
nate Archipelago. 


POSTSCRIPT. 


Since these chapters were prepared for the press 
there has come to hand from the ex-missionary, 
referred to in the previous pages more than once, 
additional and valuable information. 1 Though it 
embraces various matters, we think it better to 
give it altogether, as it possesses a peculiar author¬ 
ity and interest of its own, coming as it does from 
a Friar who lived in the Philippines for twenty- 
seven years, and who knew the country well in 
its normal and peaceful state, long before the Free¬ 
masons had wrought havoc in the relations between 
the priests and the people. 

1. Those who were principally engaged in writ¬ 
ing against the Friars for the past few years, and 
injuring their prestige at home, were' the civil 
functionaries and military officers, who for the 

1 It is with real satisfaction that, at the last moment, we find 
ourselves permitted to mention the name of this venerable and 
experienced man — the Very Rev. Padre Gallego, O.P., Convento 
della SS. Trinita, Rome ; and we can but express the regret that 
the worth of this noble disciple of Christ is not known of in the 
outside world as it is among his confreres; then, indeed, his word 
would have the authority it deserves among all who love religion, 
and struggle for the uplifting of humanity. 

116 


A STREET IN MANILA. 






















































































































































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POSTSCRIPT. 


117 


most part lived at Manila and knew next to noth¬ 
ing about them and their doings. These men were 
biased by anti-religious ideas implanted in them 
by an irreligious education. It is easy to estimate 
the effect of an enormous correspondence of this 
kind, leaving Manila every fortnight, and passing 
into the hands of politicians in the mother-country, 
especially as there was nothing to counteract its 
influence on the part of the Friars, who did their 
work quietly and earnestly, and had very little 
correspondence with Spain at all. 

2. The parish priests were ex-officio inspectors 
of the primary schools, but, having no y voice in the 
appointment of masters and mistresses, and finding 
unsuitable persons thrust on them, were forced in 
many cases to retire from the schools in disgust, 
and limit their connection with them as much as 
possible. 

3. The parish priests were also ex-officio presi¬ 
dents of certain municipal committees, and were 
supposed to help in the appointment of justices 
of the peace and petty governors, by sending in 
reports of the qualifications or otherwise of the 
nominees. The system worked well for a long 
time. But, latterly, owing to the new spirit in 
Manila, where the persons in office seemed leagued 
against the Friars, these privileged communications 
invariably leaked out; and if the parish priest, as 
in duty bound, laid bare defects and deficiencies 
the first to hear of it would be the person of whom 


118 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 


they were told. This was naturally a constant 
source of irritation and loss of prestige. The offi¬ 
cials seemed to take a delight in lowering the parish 
priest in the eyes of the better class of natives. 
If the parish priest ventured to advise the governors 
as to what was best to be done in the interests of 
the communes, especially with regard to the secret 
societies, the governors would laugh, call him a 
visionary—an innocent man. No wonder, then, 
that the parish priests gradually began to retire 
within themselves, and leave growing evils un¬ 
checked, when they saw all their endeavors balked 
by the powerful opposition of the civil and mili¬ 
tary governors. This untoward state of things left 
the rebels free to mature and carry out their plans. 

4. Here ik an instance of how badly this state 
of things reacted on the country. The introduc¬ 
tion of the new Penal Code was a great blunder 
of the Government. It was unnecessary; the 
natives were all opposed to it, and the strength 
and extent of that opposition was well known to 
the Friars who lived in the midst of the people. 
Under normal conditions they would have advised 
the repeal of the Code, arid their advice would 
have been taken. But they were forced to remain 
silent while the Government in its folly was put¬ 
ting the obnoxious Code in force. If they had 
warned the Government, instead of getting the 
respectful hearing to which they were entitled, by 
their long experience and their intimate knowledge 


POSTSCRIPT. 


119 


of the people, they would simply have been dubbed 
reactionists. 

5. How foolish it was of the Government to 
alienate the most loyal Spaniards in the whole 
Archipelago, the most distinctively Spanish element, 
— the Friars. They were almost ultra-loyal, and 
did their best to inspire feelings of loyalty in the 
breasts of the natives. They were powerful bodies 
with a strong bond of cohesion, having large inter¬ 
ests in the country. They had glorious traditions 
to look back upon and keep them up to the 
ideal they had formed of their mission martyrs, a 
history to remember with pride; and all around 
them a Christian people, the fruit of their apos¬ 
tolic toil and that of their predecessors. The offi¬ 
cials, on the other hand, were mere birds of passage, 
who took no real interest in the countiy. It was 
a case of every one for himself; every official keep¬ 
ing his eye on Spain with a view to an early return, 
while he went through his appointed work. It 
is remarkable too that in the Philippines there is 
no class of old rich Spanish families such as are 
to be found in other colonies; the families are all 
of yesterday — the riches in the hands of Chinese 
merchants, and the foreign trade in the hands of 
the English and Germans. 

6. It used to be said that the Friars wished to 
have a hand in everything. The three important 
departments of justice, finance, and military affairs 
were outside their province altogether, and these as 


120 THE FRIARS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 

♦ 

purely secular matters they never touched. The 
complaint arose from their being ever ready to 
preach against sedition and disloyalty, and to use 
their moral influence publicly and privately for that 
purpose. But the Friars for the sake of the people 
did take part in other than purely spiritual con¬ 
cerns, and the activity of mind it engendered was 
personally a great help and relief to them. The 
general rule is that young priests, coming over for 
the first time, suffer a great deal from that ennui 
to which all classes of Europeans are subject to in 
the Archipelago. Gradually the sense of the sub¬ 
lime duties to which they have vowed themselves, 
and the example of the older brethren work a won¬ 
derful change in them for the better. They then 
begin to throw themselves with ardor into their 
work, and identifying themselves with the people 
among whom their ministrations lie, take a great 
interest even in their temporal affairs, and are glad 
to help them over their difficulties, especially those 
arising between them and the governors. Any 
friction between the governors and the Friars has 
generally arisen from the latter being prompt to de¬ 
fend the rights of the natives. 

7. It is untrue to say that the Friars did not 
wish to spread the Spanish language. What they 
were opposed to was the folly of trying to teach 
the Christian doctrine and some other elementary 
knowledge in a language not understood by the 
people. In this matter they gave their candid 


POSTSCRIPT. 


121 


opinion to the Government that it was impossible 
to teach Spanish in out-of-the-way rural schools. 
But in towns they taught in Spanish, and taught 
the Spanish language and literature. They used 
to induce parents to send their children to Manila 
for the purpose of learning Spanish. 

8. Regarding their opposition to the rebellion 
from the pulpit, in private conversation, and by 
means of the press, they fought the secret socie¬ 
ties, its principal cause, and the propagation of 
evil and irreligious literature. They pointed out 
these evils on several occasions since 1887 to the 
governors, and were told in reply that these socie¬ 
ties were of no importance, that they had nothing 
to do with the rebellion, and, in fact, that the prep¬ 
arations of the rebels were of no serious conse¬ 
quence. General Weyler was the only governor 
who gave them a hearing. With that solitary 
exception the official element remained incredu¬ 
lous. The secret society of the “Katipunan,” 
the compact of blood, and the enrolment of levies, 
were all discovered by the Prior of Guadalupe, 
who sent a report of it to General Blanco three 
months before the rising took place. Padre Ma- 
riane Gol exposed the intentions of the lodges a 
long time before Aug. 19, 1898, and also gave 
notice of concealed deposits of arms, and a detailed 
account of what took place at Manila on the arri¬ 
val of the Japanese ship Konga. 


APPENDIX I. 

A SHORT ACCOUNT OF MISSIONS IN CHINA, CON¬ 
DUCTED BY THE DOMINICAN FRIARS OF THE PHIL¬ 
IPPINES . 1 

Missionaries supplied by the religious Orders in 
the Philippines to the large fields of labor in China 
and Japan are not confined to the Dominicans, but 
as we have not details at hand regarding the other 
Orders, we present to our readers part of the work 
done by the Dominicans, which will serve as a spec¬ 
imen of the rest. 

The Dominicans have charge since 1631 of the 
Vicariate Apostolic of Eo-Kien, which at present 
contains 20,000,000 inhabitants. The Most liev. Dr. 
Salvator Masot, O.P., is the present Vicar-apostolic, 
and working under him are eighteen Spanish Domini¬ 
cans, one native Dominican, and twelve secular native 
priests. The vicariate is divided into twenty-two 
districts, each under the care of a priest, and the 
Christian population numbers 35,000. The districts 
are subdivided into what are called Christianities, 
or places of meeting where prayer is said, and the 
Christian doctrine taught. About fifty of them are 

1 From the Analecta Or dints Prcedicatorum. 

122 


CHURCH AND CONVENT AT MAHAIJAY. 










































































































































































































APPENDIX I . 


123 


provided with an oratory or chapel where Mass is 
said, and the sacraments administered ; and they have 
also attached to them thirty schools for boys and eight 
for girls. There is also under the care of the Do¬ 
minicans a seminary for the education of young na¬ 
tive students who show a vocation for the priesthood. 

In 1883 part of the vicariate was cut off and 
formed into the Vicariate Apostolic of Amoy, which 
also was made to embrace the Island of Formosa. 
The most Rev. Dr. Ignatius Ibanez is Vicar-apostolic, 
and under his direction are working fourteen Spanish 
Dominicans, one native Dominican. The vicariate is 
divided into fourteen districts, half of which are in 
Formosa. They have forty chapels or oratories, 
twenty schools for boys and girls, and a seminary in 
the town of Ta-Kow in Formosa. 

A few words about the Sisters of the Third Order 
of St. Dominic, who are engaged on the work of the 
Holy Infancy in both vicariates, will be interesting. 
There are fifteen European sisters in all, besides eight 
native women. They have five orphanages in which 
are housed 200 female orphans abandoned by their 
unnatural parents in infancy, and kept by the Sisters 
till they can marry them into Christian families. 
Besides these they have rescued since 1891, 800 
others whom they place under the care of Christian 
nurses, and look after till they can settle them in life. 

The only fact we can give of the Vicariate of Cen¬ 
tral Tonquin, also under the care of the Philippine 
Dominicans, is that in 1890 alone 2,100 natives were 
converted and baptized. 


APPENDIX II. 

EXTRACTS RELATING TO THE FRIARS, FROM THE 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE OF GENERALS WEYLER 
AND MORIONES. 

GENERAL WEYLER. 

“ The mission of the Religious Orders is not over, 
as is pretended by some who, having fallen foul of 
them, seek to abolish them altogether, or at least to 
restrict and limit their influence. It is this spirit of 
jealousy that has dictated many of the so-called re¬ 
forms, which we have seen enforced of late years. 

“ But these people seem to forget that we have 
established our authority in Luzon and the Yisayas 
by the exercise of moral influence alone, backed up 
by the parish priest, for as none has such intimate 
and friendly relations with the people as the priest, 
so no one knows better than he what the people think, 
nor is any one better able to give them wise advice, to 
restrain them, and influence them for good. He alone 
can make Spaniards of them. By his office and posi¬ 
tion he is best fitted to make things easy for our minor 
officials in their different charges and districts. 

“ Remove the control of Religion, and what do you 
do ? You remove the Spanish element, forgetful of 
124 


APPENDIX II. 


125 


the fact that we have to depend on a native army 
whose dialect we do not understand, and who, in turn, 
understand not ours; that we have amongst us but 
a very limited number of Spanish soldiers — this is 
really how we are situated. I firmly believe that the 
day that witnesses the abolition of the Eeligious 
Orders, or even the serious restriction of their in¬ 
fluence, will also witness the loss of Cuba and Porto 
Eico. Even were we to fill the ranks of the army 
entirely with Spanish recruits, we should not improve 
matters, for then there would be an immense increase 
to the expenditure, whereas at present the Orders cost 
us next to nothing. All the religious live in com¬ 
mon after the manner of a corporation ; so that what¬ 
ever the priest receives, goes to the support of all, 
and to maintain their colleges and seminaries in Spain. 
Far, then, from being an inconvenience in the Philip¬ 
pines, religious zeal is our surest support, and should 
be by every means promoted and encouraged. 

“The natives are naturally simple and credulous, 
and of little discernment; and so are prone to super¬ 
stition and idolatry, and can be easily imposed upon 
by any quick-witted impostor who is able to relate 
strange and wonderful stories. To prevent them be¬ 
ing drawn away, the light of the true religion is abso¬ 
lutely necessary. 

“ In Luzon and the Visayas the Government should 
make religion a support on which to lean, and should 
regard the existence of the Eeligious Orders as a most 
effective means of spreading and diffusing civilization, 
and of consolidating vast multitudes of men of differ- 


126 


APPENDIX II. 


ent and widely separated races. It is only by gain¬ 
ing the good-will of these masses we can hope to rule 
them and draw them to ourselves. In the establish¬ 
ing of new outposts and ranches, we must count on 
the influence of the missionary. It is with this end 
in view that I have established certain missions, 
which will, I hope, in a few years give the most satis¬ 
factory results. I hope that they will be even the 
indirect means of increasing the revenues and income 
of the State, although the new Christians are to be 
free of all taxes for the next ten years. In a word, I 
know of no better means of civilizing the natives than 
the missionary post. 

“ It is clear that as society progresses in civiliza¬ 
tion and enlightenment, the less we are dependent on 
the influence of the priest; for as civilization advances 
organization becomes more perfect. What I deduce 
from this is that the reforms necessary in the'se 
islands should be carried out in logical succession, 
and in proportion to the state of civilization in each 
province. 

“ To aid us in accomplishing this good work, it is 
necessary that we should multiply the means for the 
diffusion of learning, for teaching the Spanish lan¬ 
guage, encourage and stimulate labor and industry, 
banish as far as possible card-playing and gambling, 
and extinguish certain instincts and customs peculiar 
to half-civilized men. 

“ These are my aims, and to their realization I 
have devoted myself with earnestness, taking for my 
programme — if I might so express it — the advance- 


APPENDIX II. 


127 


ment and strengthening of the civil authority, the 
spreading of civilization and learning, so that the coun¬ 
try may enjoy at no distant date the blessings that 
have come to other countries through the same means. 

“But this, in my opinion, can only be achieved 
through the Religious Orders. For let the Govern¬ 
ment bear in mind that those who deny this are fili¬ 
busters, who desire the absolute independence of the 
country, and who knew well that their greatest 
obstacle is to be found in those holy men who have 
the charge of souls in the Philippines.” 

GENERAL MORIONES. 

“ Though I desire to enforce the laws with strict¬ 
ness, yet I am at the same time most anxious to safe¬ 
guard the moral and material interests of the people 
over whom I rule. It has ever been my constant 
study to maintain on the one hand all the royal pre¬ 
rogatives in their entire amplitude and vigor; and on 
the other to make every concession consistent with 
these prerogatives, which justice and reason demand, 
and thus preserve the close relations which should 
exist between the religious and political powers. I 
regard this relation and harmony between these two 
powers as the very foundation of social order — in 
this country particularly, where religion and patriot¬ 
ism are interwoven in all its past history, and pre¬ 
existing institutions, and where they must bring about 
its future peace and prosperity. 

“ My efforts in this direction have, I rejoice to say, 
been greatly strengthened by the loyal and uncondi- 


128 


APPENDIX II. 


tional assistance given to my authority by all the 
Religious Orders of the country. These bodies, to 
the glory of Spain be it recorded, are composed of ex¬ 
cellent and truly devoted men; men who without one 
hope of earthly reward, without a hope of ever again 
treading their native land, sacrifice with generous 
enthusiasm their lives, social surroundings, personal 
friendships, nay, even, in some places, their daily 
bread, to spread the light of the Gospel, and promote 
the interests of Spain. 

“They spend themselves in their efforts to instil 
the love of faith and fatherland into the simple 
minds of the innocent inhabitants of these distant 
lands, and thus lay the best and surest foundations 
of a true civilization. 

“ Aided in this manner it has been comparatively 
easy for me to effect many of the necessary reforms 
in different parts of this Province; to establish use¬ 
ful institutions, and to aid the Supreme Government 
by founding many benevolent societies, such as the 
Monte de Pieta and the Savings Bank, which I hope 
will put an end to the extortions of greedy specula¬ 
tors. Many villages have submitted to us in the 
provinces of North Luzon without our having had 
to employ force to any extent worth speaking of. 
This happy result has been brought about almost en¬ 
tirely by the good offices of the Religious Orders, — I 
mean by their preaching, their advice, the holy example 
of their lives, their tact, self-denial, and sacrifices. 

“They are men who deserve our highest esteem, 
and our lasting gratitude.” . . . 


APPENDIX III. 


THE WORK OF FREEMASONRY IN SOUTH AND 
CENTRAL AMERICA. 

A writer in the San Francisco Monitor has made 
a very intelligible and instructive abstract of an 
article recently written' by Rev. Reuben Parsons, 
D.D., on “Freemasonry in Latin America.” This is 
a subject upon which there is much popular misappre¬ 
hension, and Dr. Parsons throws a strong light upon 
it. His language is, all in all, moderate; and his 
tone, temperate. He makes no vicious attack upon the 
Order, and all his assertions are substantiated by quo¬ 
tations from Masonic organs or unprejudiced sources. 
He exposes the systematic attacks which the lodges 
have made upon religion; the persecutions to which 
they have subjected not only the bishops but the 
laity; the war they have waged against religious 
education. And he proves all his charges from the 
mouths of the Masons themselves. 

Freemasonry in the United States and Freemasonry 
in Catholic countries are two distinct institutions. 
Freemasonry among us is a benevolent society with 
a creed and a ritual. It does not exhibit any symp- 


129 


130 


APPENDIX III. 


toms of bigotry. But in France, Spain, and Italy a 
main purpose seems to be opposition to the Church. 
In France the Masonic clique which runs the govern¬ 
ment has kept the Church in bondage; in Italy 
Masonry was most active in the movement which 
overthrew the temporal power of the Pope. In 
Latin America, as Dr. Parsons shows, it has started 
revolutions, assassinated the leaders of the people, 
exiled the clergy, and persecuted the Church. Fortu¬ 
nately, however, its domination has been short-lived 
in most of the South American republics, owing to 
the universal disgust which its violent measures 
excited. Brazil was the scene of the most important 
fight that Freemasonry waged against the Church in 
South America. For many years the society had 
been establishing itself in that country, but it was 
only during the reign of Don Pedro II. (1831-1889) 
that an open rupture occurred. There were two 
Grand Lodges in Brazil — one monarchial and the 
other revolutionary. In 1872 the president of the 
former had some measures passed in Parliament which 
were highly pleasing to his followers. A banquet 
was tendered to him, and a feature of the affair was 
an address by a priest. The priest was suspended 
by his bishop, and, at once, the Masons were on the 
warpath. Both lodges sank their differences, and 
united in their opposition to what they were pleased 
to call an infringement of their liberty. Their first 
act of defiance was the announcement of a Mass to 
be celebrated for one of their brethren who had died 
in rebellion against the Church. Next day they 


APPENDIX III . 


131 


turned their attention to the provinces and attempted 
to have a Mass of thanksgiving celebrated in com¬ 
memoration of the foundation of the lodge at Olinda. 
The bishop immediately warned his priests against 
this defiance of spiritual authority. The Masons 
retorted by charging that some priests were members 
of that sect, and that the parish confraternities were 
honeycombed with masonry. It was found that some 
of the confraternities attached to the churches were 
controlled by the Masons. The bishop forbade the 
infected societies to hold services in their chapels. 
Those thus censured, disregarded the prohibition, and 
even went so far in their defiance as to appear in church 
in full regalia. When holy communion was refused 
them “in their Masonic capacity,” they boldly took 
possession of the keys of the tabernacle. The priests 
were thus forced to go to the president of the local 
Masonic confraternity whenever they were called upon 
to administer the holy viaticum to the dying, and ask 
from him the necessary keys. 

Of course such a condition could not long continue. 
The Masons appealed to the minister of ecclesiastical 
affairs, who was himself in high standing in the 
Order. He decided that the bishops should withdraw 
their interdict against the confraternities. Just at 
this time, the bishop of Olinda received a papal brief 
approving of his action. The brief was published by 
the prelate, who was thereupon arrested and charged 
with the terrible crime of promulgating an ecclesias¬ 
tical mandate without permission of the Emperor. 
In every country where the Church is free, the eccle- 


132 


APPENDIX III. 


siastical authorities enjoy the right of ruling and 
directing their flock in spiritual matters. It would 
seem, according to the Masonic idea and the weak- 
minded Don Pedro, that the bishop should not 
take any action without consulting the temporal 
rulers. 

The intrepid prelate was sentenced to four years 
in the penitentiary. When his case was disposed of, 
the bishop of Para was arrested and received the 
same sentence, besides being subjected to insults 
worse than the penitentiary could offer. One of the 
condemned confraternities celebrated its feast in 1877 
with a grand procession, the most prominent feature 
of which was a series of indecent pictures. The 
bishop of the diocese where the outrage occurred 
felt it his duty to speak out against the sacrilegi¬ 
ous act. He prohibited the shameless society from 
using its chapel, but after two years of legal proceed¬ 
ings the case was decided against him. On the night 
of the decision, the Masons celebrated their victory 
by hooting the prelate and illuminating their head¬ 
quarters. These excesses disgusted the Catholics of 
Brazil, and popular indignation forced the Masons to 
be more prudent and to confine themselves to secret 
intrigues. As outlined in the address of their Grand 
Master, their policy should be to obtain control of the 
schools, to introduce a bill which would make mar¬ 
riage merely a civil contract, and to secularize the 
cemeteries. In 1880, however, the sect met with 
reverses, and the new government was not under 
Masonic influences. Many of the deluded members 


APPENDIX 111. 


133 


abjured their errors, and the Church in Brazil has en¬ 
joyed comparative freedom since that time. 

Freemasonry makes loud boasts of enlightenment 
and independence, but it hounded to death the most 
enlightened and liberty-loving patriot that South 
America has ever produced — Simon Bolivar, the Lib¬ 
erator. He studied law in Madrid, and on his return 
home joined the patriots who revolted against Spain. 
He freed Venezuela from Spanish rule, and was elected 
first President of the Republic of Colombia. But 
while he was fighting for the freedom of Peru, the 
Masonic clique was plotting against religious freedom 
in Colombia. In 1821 the Colombian Congress, which 
was controlled by the Masons, passed many laws 
directed against the Church. The Catholic religion 
was disestablished, right of censorship over books 
was vested in the Government alone, the right of 
nominating bishops, which had been exercised by the 
defunct Spanish power, was claimed, and a new plan of 
studies was imposed on the ecclesiastical seminaries. 
Some of these regulations may ‘appear innocent, but 
the way in which they were carried out evidenced the 
animus of their authors. The first books passed and 
approved for publication by the government censor 
were the works of Voltaire and other French atheists, 
and many immoral pamphlets. One of the text-books 
prescribed for the universities was an atheistic work 
by the English materialist Bentham. When an emi¬ 
nent professor protested against this, he was thrown 
into prison. Such violation of religious liberty could 
not occur in the United States. And yet these 


134 


APPENDIX III. 


enlightened and tolerant Masons inflicted them on a 
Catholic nation. Other outrages on liberty followed. 
Crime stalked abroad in the new republic; unoffend¬ 
ing citizens were cast into prison or beheaded on 
the trumped-up charge of treason. The people soon 
tired of the new tyranny and clamored for Bolivar to 
return and liberate them once again. 

Bolivar returned and restored order and peace to 
the distracted country. He was hated by the lodges, 
and his death was decreed. On Sept. 25, 1828, a 
band of assassins entered his house, but fortunately 
Bolivar escaped by a secret passage. That the crime 
had been plotted by the Masons is evident from the 
decree which the President issued soon afterwards : 
“ Considering that secret societies have the planning 
of political revolutions for their principal object, and 
that their baneful character is sufficiently manifested 
by the mystery with which they surround themselves, 
I order the suppression of all such societies, and the 
closing of their lodges.” He re-established religious 
education in the schools and universities, believing 
that nothing but religion could counteract the dis¬ 
orders and crimes which disgraced his beloved coun¬ 
try. His enemies triumphed at the elections of 1830, 
and Bolivar decided to resign office. His final ad¬ 
dress to Congress is memorable. “ And now,” he 
wrote, “ let my last official act be to recommend Con¬ 
gress to protect continually our holy religion, the 
fruitful source of the blessing of Heaven ; and to 
entreat Congress to restore its sacred and unprescrip- 
tible rights to public instruction, which has been made 


APPENDIX III. 


135 


a cancer for Colombia. Fellow-citizens, I must say, 
with the blush of shame on my brow, that while we 
have won our independence, it has been won at the 
expense of every other blessing. For twenty years I 
have served you as soldier and as magistrate. During 
that long period we have freed our country, procured 
liberty for three republics, repressed many civil wars, 
and four times I have resigned to the people the 
supreme power which they confided to me. To-day 
I fear that I may be an obstacle to your happiness, 
and therefore I resign for the last time the magis¬ 
tracy with which you have honored me. The most 
unworthy suspicions have been expressed in my 
regard, and I have been unable to defend myself. 
A crown has been offered to me frequently by men 
who are now ambitious of supreme power, but I always 
refused that crown with the indignation of a sincere 
republican.” 

The republic which he established was dismem¬ 
bered; his dearest friend was assassinated, and his 
own picture was burned in effigy. He was besought 
to return and once more guide the destinies of the 
country, but he replied: “ I cannot assume an 

authority with which another is invested.” He died 
in his forty-eighth year, of a broken heart. Such 
was the treatment which the Washington of South 
America received from Freemasons. 

Contrasting the lives of two presidents of Ecuador 
— Moreno, the martyr, and Alfaro — in a previous 
article, we touched on the crimes of Freemasonry in 
that country. After the' assassination of Moreno, 


136 


APPENDIX III. 


the lodges decided not to inaugurate a very radical 
policy. They were afraid of a popular outburst. 
But in 1877 a drunken soldier, named Vintimilla, 
was proclaimed dictator, and then the cloven hoof 
appeared. The usual decree for the secularization 
of education was promulgated and the Catholic- 
bishops protested. The bishops were banished for 
their action, and the Archbishop of Quito, Monsignor 
Chica, died under very suspicious circumstances. 
A post-mortem examination revealed twelve grains 
of strychnine in his stomach, but his poisoners were 
never brought to justice. This was followed by a 
decree ordering all the pastors to celebrate requiem 
masses for the souls “of all the martyrs of holy 
Liberalism who had fallen since March, 1869.” 
That was the date of an insurrection against the 
saintly Moreno. The priests refused to celebrate 
Mass for these revolutionists, and the people sided 
with them. The drunken dictator was defeated. 
Soon afterwards he was driven from office and Ecua¬ 
dor was comparatively peaceful until Alfaro, a cruel 
and ignorant soldier, seized the Government. His 
term has been marked by the murder and exile of 
priests and bishops. 

In Chili, the most Catholic of all South American 
countries, English and German Masons made many 
futile attempts to secularize all the institutions, and 
to degrade marriage into a merely civil contract. 
The Monde Maconnique published the programme 
which had been prepared by the “Grand Lodge of 
Chili ” j and another organ of the lodges informs us 


APPENDIX III. 


137 


that “ in Chili it is really the English and German 
lodges that do the work.” It is gratifying to learn 
that all their plots came to naught, and that Chili 
remains a Catholic and contented country. 

In Peru the lodges are supported in a manner 
from the “ missionary funds,” which Protestants of 
this country contribute for the spread of the Gospel 
among these “ benighted Papists.” The preachers 
who are sent out to Catholic countries are too often 
ignorant bigots. A common mode of procedure on 
their part is to attack and calumniate Catholics, and 
they are ready to join with Masonry, or any other 
anti-Catholic society, in their fight against the Church. 
So far, however, they have failed to stir up an anti- 
Catholic movement in Peru. 

Little need be added about Mexico, where the 
people are, for the most part, devoutly Catholic, 
while the politicians are Masonic. As a consequence 
the Church has been despoiled of her property and 
visited with persecution. The trouble with the peo¬ 
ple of these countries is that they allow themselves 
to be ruled by politicians. The same may be said of 
the United States, with a difference, however: there, 
politicians are allowed to misappropriate funds and to 
plunder tax-payers; in Mexico and South America the 
Catholics, somehow or other, permit themselves to be 
persecuted by the Masonic politicians. 


APPENDIX IV. 


INTERVIEW WITH AUGUSTINIAN FRIARS. 

(From the Catholic Standard and Times , Philadelphia, Penn.) 

Ten Spanish priests, driven from the mission of 
the Philippines by the insurrectionary movement, 
arrived in San Francisco on the 5th of January by 
the Pacific Mail steamer Doric. They only remained 
a few days in California, as their destination was 
New Granada, to which they sailed the following 
week. A call on them while stopping at the Occi¬ 
dental Hotel obtained much interesting information 
about the disposition of the natives towards the 
clergy in the Philippine group. All ten had been 
employed as parish priests in country districts, where 
the population is almost wholly of native stock, with¬ 
out the admixture of Chinese blood which is preva¬ 
lent in Manila. Two came from Luzon, where the 
Tagals are predominant; two more from Zebu, and six 
from Panay. In these last islands the population is 
of the Visaya race. Familiarity with the native lan¬ 
guage is required from every missionary before he is 
sent out of the seminary in Manila after his arrival 
in the Archipelago. 


138 


APPENDIX IV. 


139 


During tlieir passage the exiled priests, by direc¬ 
tion of their superiors, all wore the ordinary secular 
dress, and looked like a delegation of intelligent busi¬ 
ness men from some country district in the United 
States. In manner they were courteous and very 
intelligent; but they were somewhat shy of talking 
much in a strange land. After some time this shy¬ 
ness wore off, and cordial relations were established 
between the exiles 'and your correspondent. None of 
the former spoke English, though the president, 
Father Diaz, read it readily, and translated offhand 
articles in the San Francisco papers to his brethren. 
They were not familiar with the system of interview¬ 
ing as practised in California, and asked that any 
questions to which their answers were desired should 
be put to them in Spanish and in writing. Later 
they conversed freely on subjects connected with 
their missions, though they declined to express them¬ 
selves on political questions. The evidently re¬ 
garded Aguinaldo as not a very remarkable personage, 
and the calmness with which they spoke of their own 
experiences was very remarkable. 

The statement that the Friars possessed large 
estates in the country was declared by them to be a 
pure lie. The individual members possess nothing, 
and the only property held by the Orders is attached 
to hospitals or colleges. The missionaries are all 
Europeans, though there are many natives among the 
secular clergy. The Augustinians, Franciscans, Do¬ 
minicans, and Capuchins have the right of presenta¬ 
tion to certain parishes which were founded among 


140 


APPENDIX IV. 


the barbarous natives in older times. Each Order 
has a seminary in Europe specially devoted to train¬ 
ing such of its members as have suitable vocations 
for the Philippine mission. After completing their 
studies, and receiving holy orders, the young priests 
are sent to the seminaries in the Philippines to perfect 
themselves in the native languages, and get familiar 
with the habits of the country. There are three 
principal languages spoken in the group, — Tagal, 
Visaya, and Pampanginano. No priest is sent on 
mission work until he is thoroughly acquainted with 
whichever of these he is destined to use in his minis¬ 
try. These Philippine languages have, it must be 
remembered, books and literature, and are not mere 
dialects suitable to all. In answer to a question 
whether, as missionaries they could accumulate pri¬ 
vate funds, Father Alvarez emphatically said no. 
“We are Eriars and have taken a solemn vow of 
poverty,” he stated, “ and it a simple falsehood to 
assert, as some have done, that any Philippine Friar 
possesses a rood of land or a peso that he can call 
his own, except temporarily and by permission of his 
superiors.” A couple of other questions brought out 
a clearly worded account of the relations of the Friars 
in the Philippines to Church and State. Some of the 
facts will be new to American readers. 

The .Catholic Church in the Archipelago is organ¬ 
ized on the same basis as in other parts of the world, 
but the number of clergy is much less in proportion 
to the population than in any other Catholic country. 
There is one archbishop and four bishops for a popu- 


APPENDIX IV. 


141 


lation of over seven millions. The dioceses are 
divided into parishes, as in Spain or America, and 
the priests of each parish are subject to the bishop’s 
authority in the same manner. The only peculiarity, 
in a church point, is that more than three-quarters of 
the parishes are served by members of the different 
Keligious Orders — Augustinians, Dominicans, Fran¬ 
ciscans, and Jesuits. Each Order has the right of 
presenting the names of suitable priests for the dis¬ 
tricts in its charge to the bishop, who appoints them, 
if satisfactory to his own judgment, after which the 
Augustinian or Franciscan occupies the ordinary posi¬ 
tion of a parish priest — subject, however, to removal 
by his own superior. In practice this is rare, and 
the relations between the bishops and the Orders 
have been uniformly satisfactory. 

The whole number of Augustinians in the islands 
in 1896 was three hundred and twenty-seven, and the 
Catholic population which this number supplied was 
two millions three hundred thousand, or about one 
priest to every seven thousand Catholics. It certainly 
is not a great number, and does not justify the com¬ 
mon ideas of hordes of idle Friars. In districts of 
over ten thousand two or more Friars are stationed, 
but the great majority have only one, with a native 
assistant priest or deacon in some cases. The church 
property is simply the church and priest’s house, 
with a garden attached. The revenue is an allow¬ 
ance from the government, which varies from five 
hundred to eight hundred silver dollars a year, or 
somewhat less than ten cents a head for the popula- 


142 


APPENDIX IV. 


tion at large. That the three hundred Friars can 
lead idle lives is hardly compatible with the number 
of baptisms and marriages recorded within a year. 
There were a hundred and fifteen thousand baptisms, 
sixteen thousand marriages, and fifty-one thousand in¬ 
terments as the work of 1896 for the three hundred 
Friars. 

Of the condition of the people in the islands Father 
Alvarez thought it compared fairly well with the 
rural population of his native Spain or other Euro¬ 
pean countries. The bulk of the natives own and 
cultivate their own lands. There are schools for 
boys and girls in every parish, and the great majority 
can read and write. Of. the religious spirit of the 
country people and their respect for the missionaries 
he spoke very favorably. The movement which 
drove them out was political, not religious. Father 
Alvarez attributed the chief share in it to the mes¬ 
tizos of Chinese and Philippine origin, who form the 
greater part of the population of Manila and the 
larger towns. Like the Tagals and the Yisayas, 
these mestizos are Christians, but they possess the 
fondness for secret societies of their Chinese fathers. 
A certain number of the younger natives who have 
engaged in office seeking or business joined in the 
movement, to which the bulk of the country popula¬ 
tion is wholly indifferent. 

The occupation of Cavite by Dewey and the de¬ 
struction of the Spanish fleet was followed by the 
withdrawal of the Spanish soldiers from the remoter 
islands, where they had been almost the only police 


APPENDIX IV. 


143 


force. Popular disturbances followed in many places, 
and Aguinaldo at Cavite, through the mestizo agents, 
quickly put himself in touch with the local agitators. 
The latter had no definite purpose except to secure 
personal advancement in the change of government, 
and when Aguinaldo declared Spaniards the enemies 
of the Philippines, attacks were made on the iso¬ 
lated Spanish priests. Several were imprisoned, some 
were released by their parishioners, and others re¬ 
mained in the hands of the new insurgent soldiery. 
The heads of the Order directed a temporary retire¬ 
ment, and most of the priests did so, but returned 
again after some time. With the progress of Agui- 
naldo’s party more violent measures were adopted 
towards the Spanish priests. The jails were opened 
and criminals had free scope through the islands. 
In many places liquor was freely distributed by the 
leaders of the insurgents, and massacres and rob¬ 
beries were committed with impunity. In Illocos, in 
Luzon, the bishop and all the students of the semi¬ 
nary and all the Spanish priests were arrested and 
treated with savage brutality. More than fifty 
priests were murdered in different places, and over 
four hundred thrown into prison and subjected to all 
the brutalities that the fierce Malay spirit could sug¬ 
gest. The heads of the Orders in Manila finally gave 
the word, and the missionaries who were able to escape 
made their way to the different places which were 
protected by Spanish garrisons, or to Manila itself. 
In Manila, after its capture, it was impossible for 
the Orders to maintain long the number of fugitive 


144 


APPENDIX IV. 


priests thus driven from their homes. Their funds 
are limited, and, on consultation with the generals in 
Rome, it was decided to find employment for the 
exiles in other lands as far as possible. In South 
America such employment has been offered to a 
number of Augustinians. 


APPENDIX V. 


LETTER FROM A FRIAR IN THE POWER OF THE 

/ 

REBELS TO ANOTHER FRIAR, OF THE SAME ORDER, 
RESIDING IN MANILA. 

Dear and Reverend Father,— 

The wife of the master of N. has come to visit us 
in your name, and to offer us money. God will re¬ 
ward your good works and your kindness to us. We 
are not accepting the help you offer us because we 
have no need of it for the present. Just now we can 
say we are rich in comparison with what we were 
some time ago. For the last two months we have 
not been treated with that ferocity which was dis¬ 
played against us previously by the rebel chief hold¬ 
ing the rank of Lieut.-Colonel, and the guard in 
whose custody we were placed: He treated us in 
the beginning with extreme rigor, due to his satanic 
hatred against religion, and his insatiable greed. He 
ordered us to be scourged on four occasions, took all 
our money, and, finally all we possessed. He took 
our clothes, hats, and shoes, and left us nothing but 
miserable rags for clothing. But the charity of the 
people, in spite of the guards, who had the most 
145 


146 


APPENDIX V. 


severe orders to prevent them, supplied us with all 
we had need of. 

The hatred that the rebel chief has shown towards 
us has passed all limits. He made us suffer for a 
long time most terrible humiliations and vexations. 
He and his soldiers injured us in various ways and 
tortured us. The attitude of the rebel chief clearly 
showed us that he was a furious agent of the Free¬ 
masons. By his orders the father Vicar of N. was 
tied to a tree and fiercely beaten. In addition to 
this bad treatment, we were sent every day on the 
public roads and forced to work till night-time. We 
just got what repose was strictly necessary, and at 
noon a small repast — all that under a fierce sun. I 
was exempted from the work on account of my sick¬ 
ness, and yet I had a desire to share in the labors 
and sufferings of my brethren. 

The people compassionated us and relieved us as 
much as possible. They brought us tea, coffee, cigars, 
etc., and all that without the knowledge of the guards, 
from fear of the rebel chief, who threatened terrible 
punishment to all who would dare to give aid to the 
prisoners. The people of H., as soon as they learnt 
that I was a prisoner, began to come to see me, in 
spite of the long distance that separated them from 
me, and brought me clothes and money with which I 
was able to provide for my necessities for the time 
being. 

When the rebel chief bearing the title of Lieut.- 
Colonel heard this news he got into a great rage, 
threatened my parishioners that he would have them 


APPENDIX V. 


147 


arrested and brought before a judge. In conse¬ 
quence of this they were obliged to fly, but still 
before their departure they found means of giving 
me a little more help. The rebel chief does not 
reside near us, but comes from time to time, caus¬ 
ing terror to everybody. Happily, his visits are 
rarer now, and, thanks to God, we enjoy a certain 
tranquillity. It is said that he has been reprimanded 
for the bad treatment he has inflicted on us. Who 
knows ? 

However that may be, he comes but rarely, and 
leaves us in peace. Taking advantage of this, an 
inhabitant of the locality in which we are has ob¬ 
tained from a chief of a higher grade a remission of 
the hard labor. 

We know from a good source that all communica¬ 
tion with the imprisoned Friars has been forbidden 
under the most severe penalties. The faithful are 
permitted neither to salute us nor to visit us. On 
Sundays we ask permission to go to Mass, and when 
that is granted us we have to go escorted by bayonets, 
and are not permitted to say Mass ourselves. 

The Governor of the locality is polite enough with 
us, but does not obtain any favor for us. Fathers 
N. and N. have written several times to him, begging 
him to get our position bettered as far as he is able. 
A great number of rebel chiefs have come to see us, 
and all seem possessed by a satanic hatred for us, 
and instead of pitying us rejoice to see us in a state 
of misery. 

They boast of having taken part in the massacres 


148 


APPENDIX V. 


of the insurrection, and say to us : " Fathers So-and- 
So have escaped us, but if we catch them we will 
make them pay for their conduct. It has been de¬ 
creed to exterminate you all; however, we will allow 
you to live.” The insurgents demand freedom of 
worship, of teaching, of association, civil marriage, 
etc. These theories are proclaimed in public, and 
civil marriages have already taken place. They are 
celebrated in presence of the Mayor, according to the 
new decree, and the fee is live francs. The Blessed 
Virgin, who delivered us from death, will deliver us 
also from this perilous situation, and by that will 
put a seal on the favors she has already bestowed 
on us. 

Kindest remembrances to all the brethren. 


APPENDIX VI. 


THE REV. W. HYKES ON BURIAL FEES AND THE PACO 
CEMETERY OUTSIDE MANILA. 

The following is a sample of the Rev. Mr. Hyke’s 
report: — 

“ The burial fees demanded by the priests during 
an epidemic of smallpox were something enormous. 
As many were unable to pay, the dead were lying in 
the churches and in private houses in such numbers 
as to become a serious menace to the public health. 
The thing was so scandalous that the Governor- 
General interfered, and issued orders for all the 
corpses to be buried at once. The priests disregarded 
it and telegraphed to the Government at Madrid, 
who reversed the order. 

“ I heard such a revolting story about the Paco 
Cemetery (Paco is a suburb of Manila) that I decided 
to visit the place and ascertain the facts for myself. 
In the centre of a plot of ground, containing about 
two acres, is a mortuary chapel. Around this in con¬ 
centric circles, and with a space of about twenty feet 
between, are three or four walls. These walls are 


149 


150 


APPENDIX VI. 


from five to seven feet wide, about ten feet high, and 
contain three tiers of vaults, one above the other, and 
of sufficient size to admit a coffin. The Filipino in 
charge told me that there were 1,278 vaults for adults 
and 504 for children. The fees are collected five- 
yearly in advance, and are $33 for an adult and $16 
for a child. I said to the attendant: ‘ Suppose that 
at the end of any period of five years the friends of 
the deceased are unable to pay, what do you do ? ’ 

‘ We remove the coffin, take out the remains and 
throw them on the bone-pile.’ ‘Will you show me 
the bone-pile ? ’ ‘ Certainly.’ He conducted me to the 
rear of the cemetery, up a flight of stone steps to 
the top of the wall. The receptacle for the bones 
was a space between two parallel walls, about thirty 
feet long by four wide by eight deep, and it was 
nearly full. Near by were two metallic coffins which 
had evidently just been opened, and on top of the 
bone-pile were two complete skeletons. A dog was 
munching the bones. You can imagine how such a 
* system would work with an ignorant, superstitious 
people like the natives. All of the vaults except 
three were occupied. The fees amount to more than 
$50,000 every five years. The fees of a church near 
to the hotel at which I was stopping amounted to 
$100,000 per annum. 

“ It is not surprising that the great religious corpo¬ 
rations are enormously wealthy, and that they have a 
power consonant with that wealth. I was shocked 
at the stories I was told by men, whose word I could 
not doubt, of the flagrant immorality of the Spanish 


APPENDIX VI. 


151 


Friars. The men who gave me these statements said 
they were prepared to give names, dates, and places.” 

We sent a cutting containing this part of the 
report to the ex-Philippine missionary, residing at 
present in Rome, to whom we have already referred. 

To these lying statements the missionary gives an 
unqualified contradiction. He himself was a parish 
priest during the cholera of 1882-83, when 20,000 
people died in six months. In his own parish alone 
1,829 died and were buried, and yet he did not get a 
penny for burial fees. He adds that the other parish 
priests acted like himself. 

The revolting description of the treatment of the 
dead in the Paco cemetery is a foolish fabric, built on 
the simple fact that bodies are removed from certain 
niches, after five years, to make room for others. 
Mr. Hykes indirectly imputes the extortion of enor¬ 
mous burial fees in this cemetery to the clergy. 
Whether the fees are enormous or not, they do not 
go to the Church; for the missionary Father reveals 
the fact wilfully kept back by Mr. Hykes — that the 
cemetery belongs to the Manila municipality , which 
gets all the fees. This cemetery story, told with 
such apparent honest indignation, is alone sufficient 
to discredit all Mr. Hyke’s report, and is a proof 
that he knows how to color and misrepresent facts 
to suit his purpose. 

In conclusion, we are anxious to know if Mr. 
Hykes examined the spiritual condition of the Prot¬ 
estants in the Philippines. “ To our shame be it 


152 


APPENDIX VI. 


said,” observed a British officer, in 1859, “ there is no 
Protestant place of worship on the island; and even 
the burial-ground is in an unseemly position and con¬ 
dition, and, I believe, unconsecrated.” 1 


1 u Hongkong to Manila,” by H. T. Ellis, R.N. 











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